TRENTON—People with disabilities now have another resource to help them find transportation to work, school and other activities through a new website provided by the Department of Human Services.
The department’s Division of Disability Services (DDS), through a federal grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), now offers “ NJ Find A Ride” at www.njfindaride.org.
The website was created as a resource for people with disabilities who do not have reliable access to private automobile transportation. NJ Find A Ride contains information about a variety of available public and private transportation options. Search results will provide a list of transportation providers and how to contact them to determine availability and costs.
“One major obstacle to employment for people with disabilities is accessible transportation,” said Commissioner Jennifer Velez. “NJ Find A Ride is a valuable resource through which people with disabilities can maintain their quality of life with employment, education, doctor’s visits and many other activities.”
NJ Find A Ride allows users to locate a ride by clicking “I Need a Ride” on the website and then typing in the requested information regarding the user’s location, destination and when the ride is needed.
Transportation providers may register to provide their contact information on the site by clicking “I Give Rides.” Transportation providers registering on the NJ Find A Ride website will then become a part of the available resources for users.
The website also provides links and phone numbers to a number of transportation options and services available in New Jersey to help users to understand a range of accessible transportation services. These include traditional bus and rail services; NJ TRANSIT and NJ TRANSIT Access Link; community transportation services operated by New Jersey counties, private organizations and municipal government; as well as medical transport vehicles, taxis and livery services.
DDS, through a federal CMS grant, contracted with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to develop a five year transportation plan to address the barriers to work for people with disabilities. One of the recommendations of the report, issued in 2005, was to create an internet-based, one-stop resource offering transportation for people with disabilities. The entire report can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dds/publications.html.
