Santa Ana : New Buses for Elderly, Disabled to Be Unveiled

Two of 16 new buses to be used for transporting senior citizens to nutrition sites will be unveiled at a ceremony this morning at a Senior Citizens Advisory Council meeting at the Area Agency on Aging.

The Consolidated Transportation Services Agency, a private nonprofit organization under contract to the Orange County Transportation Commission and the Area Agency on Aging, paid 20% of the total cost of the vehicles, which cost about $50,000 each. The remainder of the cost was picked up by Urban Mass Transit Administration, a federal program administered by the state Department of Transportation, CTSA Executive Director Tom Dolan said.

The new buses, equipped with special lifts and other equipment to transport the elderly and handicapped, will take them from their homes directly to nutrition sites that provide daily meals.

The service is important for keeping the elderly and handicapped “from unnecessary institutionalization,” said Stephen Schrieber-Smith, Area Agency on Aging coordinator of the senior citizen information and referral service at 801-C N. Broadway in Santa Ana. “We provide services to keep them independent in the least-restrictive environment.”