In addition to Tuolumne County Transit, transportation programs are offered by a range of social service agencies serving clients or consumers in Tuolumne County. While some agencies provide transportation directly, others arrange for it on behalf of their clients or consumers by contracting with other agencies or providers, or by subsidizing transit fares or travel by automobile. Most of the agencies listed below have a particular focus on the needs of older adults, people with disabilities, or low-income individuals, but some agencies may serve a broader group.
The Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency (ATCAA) is an umbrella organization under which fall several programs including the Family
Learning Center, the Jamestown Family Resource Center, and the Jamestown Homeless Shelter. The overarching goal of these programs is to
help low-income individuals achieve self sufficiency. ATCAA serves residents of Amador, Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties. The various
transportation programs are supported by state and federal funding (including No Child Left Behind Funds), funding from First Five Tuolumne
County, and private donations.
Visit ATCAA
The Area 12 Agency on Aging is a Joint Powers Agreement between Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties that provides
funding to senior service providers and administers several direct service programs. Area 12 subsidizes transportation in two primary ways:
it provides gas vouchers to older adults for trips to medical appointments through the Older Americans Act (OAA) and the Multipurpose Senior
Services Program, and it funds the medical transportation program for seniors operated by Sierra Senior Providers, Inc. (see below).
Visit Area 12 Agency on Aging
In Tuolumne County, CCS operates under the aegis of the Tuolumne County Public Health Department. CCS is a medical program for children under
21 years of age who have been diagnosed with certain physically disabling medical conditions. CCS provides specialized medical care and
rehabilitation for families that are unable to provide all or part of the needed care. CCS provides gas vouchers and occasional car rental for
enrolled children to travel to out-of-county medical services. These services are primarily Medi-Cal reimbursed.
Tuolumne County Public Health Department Directory
The Department of Rehabilitation helps persons with disabilities — primarily mental health patients — find and secure employment. As part of
this effort, the Department reimburses its clients for Tuolumne County Transit bus tickets to Columbia College, or to other classes and training programs in Tuolumne
County. Alternatively, clients are reimbursed for their mileage to and from these courses.
California Department of Rehabilitation
Job Connection is a one-stop employment resource center providing information and services intended to help residents find and keep jobs. Job
Connection provides a range of services, including information and assistance for job seekers, basic skills training, and GED preparation.
Mother Lode Job Training provides Tuolumne County Transit bus passes and tickets for program participants, as well as mileage reimbursement.
Mother Lode Job Connection
The objective of the Mountain Women’s Resource Center (MWRC) is to help women who have been victims of domestic violence or sexual assault
become self sufficient and move beyond crisis. One of the many ways the organization does this is by providing transportation to residents of
the domestic violence shelter. The MWRC has one van that holds seven passengers. Any MWRC staff person can drive the van. It is used, for
example, when shelter residents are looking for employment or a place to live.
Mountain Women's Resource Center
Sierra Senior Providers, Inc. provides scheduled medical transportation within Tuolumne County for residents age 60 years and older who are
unable to use public transit. Examples of eligible trip purposes include medical appointments and trips to the pharmacy. The service is
provided in one wheelchair-accessible van and in volunteers’ private vehicles. The program has two paid drivers and multiple volunteer drivers.
While the service is provided at no cost to riders, a donation is suggested. Service is funded by a contract with the Area 12 Agency on Aging.
Sierra Senior Providers, Inc.
In very rare cases, Sonora Regional Medical Center will pay for patients to be transported home from the hospital in a taxi. Because it would
be very expensive to provide this service on a large-scale basis, the hospital only pays patients’ taxi fares under extreme circumstances
(e.g., if the patient is too frail to drive and has no friend or family member to drive them, or when the hospital is over-capacity). Those
who use this service often include low-income, elderly, and disabled patients. However, the taxi company will not transport severely disabled
patients. Funding for these taxi rides, which are typically provided three to four times per month, comes from the hospital’s general fund.
In order to increase access to health services, Sonora Regional Medical Center also operates a free clinic (Project HOPE) at Wal-Mart two days
each week using a new wheelchair-accessible “healthvan” that includes two exam rooms. Funding for the “healthvan” was raised through local
fundraising efforts and charitable donations.
Sonora Regional Medical Center
Thumbs Up! is a community integration program for individuals with developmental disabilities in Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties. The
organization’s goal is to help its clients live as independently as possible. Valley Mountain Regional Center provides funding for Thumbs Up!
to transport its clients (those who are unable to use public transportation on their own) between their homes and the Thumbs Up! program.
Thumbs Up! also transports program participants to activities and outings in and outside of the county. The organization’s vehicle fleet
includes one 16-passenger van and two six-passenger vans. Two drivers are used to transport clients between their homes and the program in the
morning and the evening, and program instructors drive the vehicles during the day. The organization also does mobility training to introduce
their clients to Tuolumne County Transit’s fixed-route and dial-a-ride services.
Thumbs Up! Community Integration
The Tuolumne Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) Program is a licensed community-based day care program that provides a variety of health, therapeutic,
and social services to area adults who are at risk of being placed in a nursing home. The objective of the ADHC is to maintain these individuals’
ability to care for themselves and to prevent unnecessary institutionalization. ADHC transports clients from their homes to the center
weekday mornings and provides a return ride home in the evening. Clients generally live within the Sonora, Columbia, and Jamestown areas; the
Center is located in Sonora. The transportation costs are paid with California Department of Aging funds.
Tuolumne Adult Day Health Care Resource
Tuolumne ADHC
Transportation is provided to residents enrolled in Mental Health, Alcohol, Drug, and Perinatal Programs, Monday through Friday. In order to
receive transportation assistance, individuals must have no other transportation options, and service must be requested by their primary
clinician. Transportation may be provided to out-of-county destinations, including Modesto, Merced, and longer distance destinations such as
Sacramento, Fresno, and Reno. Services are funded by federal, state, and county funds. Behavioral Health also purchases Tuolumne County Transit
tickets and passes.
Tuolumne County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
A variety of transportation services are provided by programs within the Tuolumne County Department of Social Services. Two of these programs are discussed below.
The Veterans Administration (VA) provides out-of-county demand-response transportation for veterans, between Tuolumne County and VA Hospitals
in multiple counties, including facilities in Palo Alto and Livermore. The VA vehicle fleet includes gurney vans and wheelchair vans.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Work Activities for Tuolumne/Calaveras Handicapped (WATCH) is a nonprofit organization that serves individuals with developmental disabilities
in Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties. WATCH provides a variety of programs and services including residential homes, supported employment,
training, and activities. Under a contract with Valley Mountain Regional Center (VMRC), WATCH is paid on a per-mile basis to transport persons
with developmental disabilities between their homes and the WATCH program in Sonora. In addition to this, WATCH funds its own door-to-door
transportation services, transporting its clients to jobs in the community and to social and recreational activities (e.g., bowling, movies)
as far away as San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. WATCH has a combined 23 vehicle fleet at its Sonora and Angels Camp locations and San Andreas group
homes. The fleet is comprised of cars, pick-ups, vans, and buses. All of the vans and buses are wheelchair accessible. Seven part-time drivers
are used for the trips between clients’ homes and the Sonora program, and staff drivers are used for social and recreational trips. In addition
to the VMRC contract, WATCH receives funding from private donations. While WATCH clients do not typically use public transit to travel to and
from the WATCH program, its Community Access Group occasionally trains program participants on how to use public transit. WATCH encourages
clients to live in areas with public transit access. VMRC purchases tickets and passes for WATCH program participants to utilize Tuolumne County
Transit fixed route and dial-a-ride services.
Watch Resources
Although the agencies below do not directly operate transportation services, they play a key role in the Tuolumne County transportation system by funding or subsidizing programs that incorporate transportation services, or by providing information and referral to support the mobility of seniors, people with disabilities, or low-income individuals.
Although the following providers do not offer social services transportation per se, they also offer important options within the spectrum of transportation services available in the county.
Tuolumne County Transit does not travel outside of the county. However, Tuolumne County residents may transfer to Calaveras Transit from Tuolumne County Transit Routes 2 and 3 on the Columbia College campus. Calaveras Transit serves Calaveras County and provides two additional regional links: service connecting with the Amador Regional Transit System (ARTS) in Jackson (Amador County), and service connecting with several other transit services in Lodi (San Joaquin County). These connecting services are briefly described below.
From Calaveras Transit, riders can transfer to a number of regional transit providers at Lodi Station in downtown Lodi. These providers
include San Joaquin Regional Transit District (which serves Stockton and San Joaquin County and provides interregional services), the Lodi
Grapeline (local Lodi service), and SCT/LINK (serving the Galt/Elk Grove/Sacramento area).Greyhound and Amtrak services (San Joaquin routes)
also serve the Lodi Station.
San Joaquin Regional Transit District
Lodi Grapeline
SCT/LINK
Greyhound Home Page
Amtrak California