Last week, the Flower Mound Town Council approved a renewed one-year service agreement for demand response transit service SPAN Inc. to give residents 65 or older or those with disabilities an affordable option for important rides they need.
SPAN provides transportation for eligible riders anywhere in the service area (Flower Mound, Lewisville and Highland Village) at a cost of $3 per one-way ride for limited purposes, such as medical treatments, doctor and dentist appointments, shopping for necessities, to and/or from work, support programs for adults with special needs, and participation in the town’s Seniors in Motion senior citizen program.
That $3 fare is down from $5 in the previous agreement to bring it in line with what SPAN charges rides in the other areas of Denton County, because the cost has been the No. 1 complaint from Flower Mound riders, and the differing costs have caused confusion and animosity with Flower Mound riders, according to town staff.
The overall cost of each one-way trip is $39.05, $30.60 of which is charged to the town. Nearly $37,000 in federal grant funds will be used, and the town’s contribution will not exceed $53,612. Medicaid-eligible trips can be fully reimbursed by the federal government, resulting in no charge to the rider or town.
The grant funding enables the town to increase the maximum number of one-way rides from 146 to 246 per month. Ridership currently averages 161 one-way rides per month. The new agreement begins Oct. 1 and runs through the end of September 2023.
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