Sudbury committee moves toward Uber voucher system as taxi contracts, shuttle funding near end

The Subway Transportation Committee on March 21 discussed moving to a managed Uber voucher program and narrowing the town’s reliance on multiple small services as taxi contracts, the CATCH Connect grant and a state-funded hospital shuttle approach their end dates.

Committee members said the voucher system could be easier for riders and administrators and give the town more control over eligible vehicles and destinations. "We can actually give them a daily voucher," said Alice Sapienza, committee member, describing options that would help riders who have difficulty budgeting. Sapienza also said the system can be limited geographically: "we can now ... set the geofence at 25 miles as the crow flies from the center of Sudbury," stopping vouchers from being used for Logan Airport trips.

Why it matters: the committee is reconciling program design with shrinking dedicated funding and upcoming contract expirations. Members said the town has about $135,000 in a remaining ARPA allocation and ‘‘just under $17,000’’ left from a 2023 town-meeting article for these services; using a rolling six-month average of…