BUTTE — Butte-Silver Bow County recently extended the boundaries for its free paratransit bus route, doubling the service area to help more residents access transportation.
The expansion increases the service area from three-quarters of a mile to 1.5 miles from the fixed bus route.
Transit Manager Cory Johns said the expansion will help people living south of town in the Blacktail Loop area, the Williamsburg neighborhood, and in areas above Walkerville.
WATCH: Butte-Silver Bow County has extended its free paratransit bus route boundaries to help more residents access transportation
"Our job is to get people to and from where they need to go," Johns said. "Our service, our fixed-route service, is free as well as our paratransit service."
The change comes after local activist Linda Trevenna learned a friend was unable to use the service because they lived outside the previous boundary. Trevenna gathered 176 signatures and presented them to county commissioners.
"We all pay taxes: federal, state, and city, and transportation is covered under everything, so I was like, I've got to do something to help these people," Trevenna said.
Trevenna noted that federal boundaries had previously changed, but local guidelines had not been updated to match.
"With the conglomeration and the signatures and my chance to present it to the council, it got approved, and I think it's going to help an awful lot of people," Trevenna said.
Alice De Chelley, a receptionist at Ability Montana, relies on paratransit to get to work, the store, and doctor appointments. She said she mostly uses the service during the winter months because the fixed-route bus stop is far from her home.
"The bus stop is far from my house, so I have to be able to get to the bus stop, and in the winter, I can't get to the bus stop, so paratransit comes right to my house and picks me up," De Chelley said.
De Chelley said her father, who used a wheelchair, was unable to utilize the services several years ago because he lived outside the boundary.
"Hearing that the boundary has been extended is wonderful," De Chelley said. "That's really going to help people be part of the Butte community and feel more independent."
Residents can fill out an application online to see if they qualify for the paratransit service.
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