Transportation
Transportation is a critical need in Michigan. Let us help you find support whether you need a ride or assistance for your vehicle.
Getting Help in Michigan
Free Transportation/Ride Programs
Definition
Programs that provide door-to-door (or curb-to-curb) transportation for purposes of medical appointments, shopping, banking, social events, and other similar activities for older adults who need special accommodations and are unable to utilize other available means of transportation.
Definition
Programs that provide flexibly scheduled and routed door-to-door (or curb-to-curb) transportation services for the general public. Patrons generally have no private transportation and are unable to use the fixed-route public transportation system; or live in a rural area not served by a public transit system.
Definition
Programs that provide door-to-door (or curb-to-curb) transportation for purposes of shopping, banking, social events, medical appointments, getting to and from work, and similar activities for people with disabilities who need special accommodations and are unable to utilize other available means of transportation. Also included are programs that provide transportation for youngsters with disabilities who have no other means of accessing necessary specialized services and activities. Some but not all vehicles used for this purpose are equipped with wheelchair lifts.
Definition
Programs that provide transportation for medical appointments, trips from and between hospitals, to nursing homes or other special-care centers or for other non-emergency medical needs for individuals who, because of financial problems or their physical condition, are unable to use other means of local transportation. NEMT service providers are able to transport riders who require a wheelchair lift equipped vehicle with appropriate protective restraints or a van that is designed for gurney/stretcher transportation, or has other types of features to meet their safety needs.
Definition
Programs that make arrangements for people to travel together in private automobiles and/or vans during busy commuting hours or which provide a central telephone number for people to use to identify others who are commuting to and from the same general area with whom they might share. Vehicle options include vanpools and carpools. Vanpools may be publicly or employer operated or organized by an individual who owns or leases a van; the drivers are generally participating as commuters themselves, so are not paid.
Vehicles and Driving Expense Assistance
Definition
Programs that provide money or vouchers to purchase gasoline, most frequently for individuals who need their automobile for necessary local or out-of-town travel but cannot afford to run their vehicle without assistance, but occasionally for people driving through the local area who have become stranded.
Definition
Programs that pay for or provide new and/or second hand automobiles for individuals who qualify on the basis of income, age or disability. Also included are organizations that sell new or used automobiles at very low prices, refer people to automobile dealerships, provide money to help people whose cars have failed an emissions test to purchase a replacement vehicle or otherwise help people acquire an automobile.
Definition
Programs that make automobile payments for people who are at risk of losing their means of transportation without assistance. These programs may have age, income, disability, need or other eligibility requirements.
Definition
Programs that make car insurance payments for individuals who are at risk of losing their automobile insurance without assistance. These programs may have age, income, disability, need or other eligibility requirements.
Definition
Programs that pay for or provide maintenance and repair services for people whose automobiles, trucks, trailers or other motorized vehicles are due for regular maintenance or have mechanical or structural problems. Also included are work experience programs that provide automobile repairs for the general public.
Driver Support
Definition
Programs that pay for, provide and/or install car seats that can be used to restrain infants or young children who are riding as passengers in motor vehicles. Also included are programs that provide booster seats for older children or provide referrals to organizations that provide the seats or the safety checks.
Definition
Programs that are designed to increase public awareness of the measures that people can take to protect children from preventable injuries and fatalities sustained in and around automobiles. Included are programs that provide information about laws which relate to the use of child passenger safety seats to restrain infants and young children who are riding as passengers in motor vehicles, which stress the importance of child passenger safety measures and/or which make available information about the relative merits of different types of child passenger safety seats; and those that address safety issues such as heat stroke, hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, runaway vehicles, carjacking/abduction, trunk entrapment, self-release from car seat and other problems that may occur when young children are left unattended in a vehicle.
Definition
Programs that provide financial assistance to help people pay fees associated with obtaining a driver license or replacing driver license that has been lost or stolen in situations where they cannot otherwise afford one.
Definition
Programs that provide information and/or legal assistance for individuals whose driver licenses have been suspended or revoked and want to appeal the suspension or otherwise have their driving privileges restored. Also included are programs that provide a waiver or fine reductions for low or moderate income individuals whose driving privileges are at risk due to inability to pay fines or surcharges related to traffic offenses.
Definition
Programs that provide mandated educational, treatment and/or other services for individuals who have been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs including prescription drugs and ordered by the court to seek assistance as part of state efforts to enforce DUI laws. Some DUI offender programs also include families.
Transit Support
Definition
Programs that provide cash or tokens for individuals who have no personal means of transportation and are unable to use public transportation (or a taxi service) for necessary local travel without assistance with the fare. Also included are programs that provide bus fare for people who need to travel out of town (e.g., for a funeral) but do not have the means to do so.
Definition
Organizations that provide fixed-route mass transit services that utilize buses to transport people within the limits of a city, a metropolitan area, a county or a multicounty region or to move people from outlying areas into a city or metropolitan area. With traditional fixed-route services, buses run along an established path at preset times picking up passengers at designated bus stops. Variations include express fixed-route services with fewer stops; deviated-fixed route services which allow vehicles to deviate from the fixed route to pick up passengers at other specific locations, e.g., places of employment or child care centers, while keeping to a timetable for scheduled stops; point-deviation services which allow vehicles to stop at scheduled stops per a timetable but pick up passengers with advanced reservations between scheduled stops; and arrangements in which vehicles have no fixed stops but allow riders to hail a vehicle which travels along a fixed route and request a drop-off anywhere along the route.
Definition
Organizations that utilize buses to provide transportation for people or commodities whose destinations are outside the local area.