March 05, 2026 – Public Comment
In this public comment, we highlight major access problems in Buncombe County’s ride voucher program for seniors and people with disabilities. After testing the system ourselves, we call for centralized dispatch and direct reimbursement to make the program usable in practice.
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Good evening commissioners.
My name is Gino, and tonight I ask that you please intervene and fix the ride voucher program for Buncombe County residents.
Ride vouchers are coupon books that qualifying residents can purchase to reduce the cost of a ride. The county website states a maximum of three vouchers may be used for a one-way trip. Each voucher is a $10 coupon, and booklets are sold in sets of 10. The program is supposed to expand mobility for seniors and people with disabilities.
When you begin to use the program, however, you quickly realize how hard it is to actually redeem these vouchers for rides.
When you apply for the program, you are given a list of five companies who accept the vouchers. I called the list. Two of those contacts were no longer operating. Of the three remaining, one provider accepts only one voucher for a one-way trip and they are a limo service with a $147 minimum fare. Another provider told me they will honor a ride, but only if the rider hands over the entire voucher book for a round trip. The last provider follows the voucher rules, but they have one van. One van is not a provider network. It is a bottleneck.
If the ride vouchers are designed to help the least mobile to be mobile, then the program has failed them. They are spending their limited income on coupons that are almost impossible to redeem. As it stands, the county is in the business of selling booklets of false promises.
Now, regarding solutions. Minor changes will not fix this because the incentives are broken. Providers are opting out or restricting participation because voucher processing is a hassle. My suggestion, therefore, is to restructure the program. Instead of distributing voucher books that do not reliably produce rides, Land of Sky should coordinate trips and reimburse providers directly. That way, a resident can call one number and actually get a ride.
Before you is an opportunity to turn a phantom service into a program that provides real help to real people. Thank you.