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Volunteer drivers offer rides, social connection
Getty Images
Without a fixed-route bus service, many rural Vermonters rely on volunteer drivers like Sara Kurtz for essential trips, including to places such as grocery stores, medical appointments and pharmacies.
Last year, the Vermont Legislature allocated $600,000 to expand the state Agency of Transportation Public Transit section’s community drivers program, commonly called “dial-a-ride.”
To meet a growing need, the program seeks—by January of 2027 — to double its volunteer corps of roughly 150 drivers, who are paid 70 cents per mile to cover costs.
Kelly Poor, associate state director for AARP Vermont, calls volunteer drivers “a lifeline” for Vermonters in small communities who are 60 and older or who have disabilities.
Medicaid recipients of all ages also are eligible for rides. According to Vermont Public Transit, community drivers provide roughly half of the state’s more than 500,000 annual dial-a-ride trips. The rest are provided by program staff.
“The volunteer drivers play such a critical role in being able to make sure that people get to where they need to go and to be able to make connections in their community,” says Poor.
In fiscal year 2025, Vermont Public Transit provided 10,444 people with more than 289,000 trips to medical and related appointments. Another 4,450 Vermont residents got about 125,000 rides to spots like grocery stores, work and senior centers.
Even volunteers who spend the winter in Florida “come back and start driving again because it is life-affirming,” says Ross MacDonald, Vermont Public Transit program manager.
Volunteer Kurtz, 58, a retired veterinary technician, lives in Addison and drives more than 200 miles each weekday and 100 miles on Saturdays. She loves learning new routes and says the riders become like family.
“It’s nice to be there for somebody who needs the help, and sometimes, we’re the only people they see ever,” she says.
Kurtz often drives a Dodge Caravan she inherited from her in-laws. “Their legacy is helping seniors get to their appointments,” she says.
Go to aarp.org/vt for details on volunteering.
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