Lynx Transportation

Extends General Ride Days for Appointments and Errands

for Lincoln, Howland, and Chester

Tracey Cousineau, LSW-C, Outreach Manager

07/17/2007

Penquis Cap’s transportation program has provided general transportation services in our area for several years, but the service was very under utilized. Because of the low number of people using existing transportation or the lack of transportation resources at all in several areas in Maine, the Eastern Maine transportation coalition was formed. Health Access Network (HAN) and Penobscot Valley Hospital are both members of this coalition. HAN collected data for transportation needs in our area by asking their entire patient population a series of transportation questions. Letters outlining local transportation resources were sent to approximately 189 people whom stated they had difficulties with transportation and would like to be contacted. The Lynx general ride information was just one of the resources in these letters, but the increase in the enrollment of this one program has spurred Penquis Cap to extend their general ride schedule.

The General Ride program does not have income guidelines because you pay a very small fee for the service. Any resident from a certain town may use this program as scheduled; for example, any resident of Chester can ride to Lincoln for $1.50 each way and an additional $1 for each extra stop on Friday from 9:00-2:00. You can use the Lynx General Ride service to do errands, go shopping, go out to lunch with friends, go to the local food pantry, go to meetings and many other things on the scheduled days. If you rely on one person to take you to your doctor or dentist appointments you could make your next appointment on a general ride day in case of an emergency.

Call Penquis Cap at 1-866-853-5969 and enroll for the general ride program. You will only need to provide the dispatcher some information about yourself and where you live. To schedule a ride for the first time, you must call four full business days before you need a ride, and to schedule future rides you must call two full business days before you need a ride. The Lynx Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Lynx offices are closed on State of Maine recognized holidays.

The new General Ride schedule is listed below. If you town is not on the list, call Penquis Cap at 1-866-853-5969. If a ride is available they will do their best to accommodate you.

Chester	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$5.50
	Chester	Friday	9:00-2:00	$1.50
Enfield	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$4.00
Howland	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$3.50
	Howland	Tuesday	9:00-2:00	$2:00
Kingman, Prentiss, Springfield, Lee	Lincoln	Wednesday	9:00-2:00	$2.50
Lincoln	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$4.50
	Lincoln	Tuesday	9:00-2:00	$1.00
	Lincoln	Wednesday	11:00-3:00	$1.00
	Millinocket	Thursday	10:00-2:00	$2.50
	Lincoln	Friday	9:00-2:00	$1.00
Mattawamkeag	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$6.00
	Millinocket	Thursday	10:00-2:00	$2.00
	Lincoln	Thursday	9:00-1:00	$1.50
Winn	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$6.00
W Enfield	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$4.00
E Millinocket	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$6.00
	Millinocket	Thursday	10:00-2:00	$1.00
	Lincoln	Thursday	9:00-1:00	$2.00
Medway	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$6.00
	Millinocket	Thursday	10:00-2:00	$1.00
	Lincoln	Thursday	9:00-1:00	$1.00
Millinocket	Bangor	Monday	12:30-6:00	$7.00
	Millinocket (MR)	Tuesday	10:00-2:00	$0.00
	Millinocket (MR)	Wednesday	10:00-2:00	$0.00
	Millinocket (MR)	Thursday	10:00-2:00	$0.00
	Lincoln	Thursday	9:00-1:00	$2.50
	Millinocket (MR)	Friday	10:00-2:00	$0.00