[caption id="attachment_1140" align="alignleft" width="288" caption="Capital Area Transit manager Nate Vatnsdal presents a Guaranteed Ride Home voucher. Customers will continue to have the Guaranteed Ride Home program available after April, due to the identification of another state grant funding source."]
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Bismarck, N.D. – New funds have been identified that will keep a supplementary program to the Capital Area Transit (CAT) fixed-route system from disappearing.
Operation of the Guaranteed Ride Home program will continue uninterrupted following confirmation on April 2 that Capital Area Transit has identified another state grant. That state grant means a customer population needing evening or early morning transit will still have that service available.
“We are very excited to be able to continue this program,” said Interim Transit Director Al Wangler. “The reality is some people don’t have access to their own vehicle, but still need to be able to get from Point A to Point B and they might need to do it at 10 p.m. Without this program, we wouldn't be able to help them. But with it, we are providing a beneficial service to Bismarck and Mandan.”
The Guaranteed Ride Home program was created to provide customers with a means of transportation outside the normal operating hours of the CAT. To be eligible for the program, a customer needed only to have a valid 30-day pass and ride the CAT one way. Bismarck-Mandan’s fixed-route system is comprised of 12 routes that provide service from about 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., depending on the route.
In 2014 the CAT provided more than 138,000 rides to the communities of Bismarck and Mandan.