Taxi-voucher program could save city some money
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Phoenix launched its taxi-voucher pilot last December to help deal the rising cost of the Dial-A-Ride program, which has been around in some form since the 1970s.
Dial-A-Ride has a $13.5 million annual budget The city uses that money to hire a private company to run the program which carries nearly 400,000 passengers a year, city records show. Under federal law, Phoenix is required to offer the Dial-A-Ride program for the disabled who can’t ride traditional buses or light rail, but Phoenix also offers it to the elderly, said Gabriel Peiz, a Phoenix public transit supervisor who oversees Dial-A-Ride and Senior Cab.
