The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Washoe County is set to consider a payment-per-service-hour increase for its FlexRIDE on-demand and ACCESS paratransit services contractor, MTM, Inc., during their next Board Meeting on Friday, February 18.
RTC believes that a potential change will allow them to ensure important services so they can continue to operate at their current levels of service.
“MTM provides critical transportation services to our community. RTC ACCESS is a lifeline for seniors and people with disabilities who depend on these services to get to doctor’s appointments, get groceries, pick up prescriptions, and more,” said RTC Executive Director Bill Thomas. “As the community knows, the cost of everything is rising. It’s important that we provide the resources MTM needs to continue providing our community with quality on-demand and paratransit services.”
Currently, the RTC pays its contractor MTM, a rate of $62.11 for every hour a vehicle is in service. After a third-party directed labor market study done by the University of Nevada, Reno, along with RTC staff examining the raising current costs of providing contracted transit services, RTC staff is recommending increasing MTM’s contracted rate to $68.87 per service hour.
The potential rate change to the existing contract could possibly allow MTM to face these challenges while continuing FlexRIDE and ACCESS services for the community.
The RTC has no plans to change the existing fare prices for passengers on RTC ACCESS or RTC FlexRIDE services.
The RTC’s February 18 Board meeting will be held via Zoom at 9 a.m. The community can watch the meeting on the RTC’s YouTube page.
