There’s a faster, more convenient and cheaper way for people needing Broward County’s special transportation shuttles to get around.
It’s called a taxi.
A yearlong, limited pilot program let participants take taxi rides paid for by the county instead of using the county’s paratransit shuttle service.
The county has been paying up to $15 for each taxi trip in the Rider’s Choice program. Commissioners will consider March 28 increasing the maximum to $18.
Even at that cost, the taxis will still be cheaper than paying for those same trips on one of Broward’s TOPS paratransit shuttles, officials said. The average cost of a taxi ride has been $13.16, officials said, while the county pays $28 for each rider on a shuttle trip, no matter the distance involved.
The limited program saved the county about $40,000 last year, officials said, while giving participants the choice of calling for a taxi or a shuttle.
There were 91 people who used taxis for some of their trips and paid for them using a county-issued debit card.
“It’s made my transportation much more accessible. It has saved me a lot of time and that’s everyone’s most valuable commodity,” said Pat Landon, a 71-year-old from Oakland Park who suffers from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. What sometimes would take her eight hours using shuttles might take two hours or less with taxis, she said.
Landon said she has used the cab service more than 270 times — about 135 round trips — since the program started. She will use the cabs for shorter trips, generally under five miles, so she doesn’t top the $15 maximum, while calling a day ahead for a shuttle for longer trips. Participants are also limited to two taxi trips a day, which is one round-trip.
Paratransit services are available to people who have difficulty using other mass transit because of a disability or medical condition. Participants in the Rider’s Choice program must have been TOPS-eligible for at least a year and have taken at least 100 TOPS trips over the previous 12 months.
Besides the more convenient service, Landon said she’s also more likely to get to an appointment on time using a taxi.
It takes creativity to put a trip schedule together to keep costs down and reduce time stuck waiting, Landon said. Her day out could include a taxi ride to a bank, then having a paratransit shuttle take her from the bank to a doctor’s office, wait for another shuttle to take her from her doctor to a pharmacy, then call a taxi for the final ride home.
The taxis can be ordered at the last minute, while shuttle rides — which charge most passengers $3.50 a trip — have to be scheduled at least a day ahead.
The shuttles also can have can have multiple passengers, which can make a three-mile trip a journey of an hour or more as other people are picked up and dropped off.
“They pick you up and they put you on these trips that don’t make any sense,” said Bonnie O’Leary, 62, of North Lauderdale. “The taxi is more direct.”
In 2018, the pilot program provided 5,211 taxi trips at a cost of $68,677, officials said. While program participants made 1,345 more trips last year than in 2017 because of the added convenience, the county still saved money.
January was the top month for taxi rides so far, with 869 trips billed to the county.
Commissioners have agreed to extend the pilot program for two more years and to lift the 150-person cap on participants. The county currently has issued 162 cards.
John Camillo, president and CEO of Yellow Cab, said the extra cab rides haven’t been enough to make a significant impact on taxi industry ledgers, which have lost business to the increasing popularity of ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. But the program does have potential if it continues to grow.
“In the end, it would help the cab industry, help the county’s budget,” Camillo said.
Sixteen cab and transportation companies are participating in the program. The program needs a service where people pay for their trips in the vehicle, something Uber and Lyft do not do. If a trip exceeds $15, participants can use a credit card or cash to make up the difference.
The cards do not cover tips, which have to be paid separately.
For information, go to broward.org/BCT/Pages/RidersChoice.aspx
lbarszewski@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4556 or Twitter @lbarszewski