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South County Connector reports record ridership, seeks grant support to reduce missed trips in West Stockbridge
Summary
Tate Coleman, director of the South County Connector, told the West Stockbridge Select Board that the service tied a record monthly ridership and is operating at a 95.6% on-time rate; he asked the town to support grant applications that would station a vehicle nearer West Stockbridge to reduce a 22% unmet-request rate there.
Tate Coleman, director of public transportation for the regional South County Connector, told the West Stockbridge Select Board on June 1 that the service tied its highest month on record (2,624 rides) and delivered more than 21,300 rides year to date. Coleman said on-time performance for the service is about 95.6 percent and that changes to dispatch software have increased shared-ride efficiency to nearly 50 percent, improving operations.
"We operate door-to-door across seven towns," Coleman said. "We provided just over 25,000 rides in FY2025 and have seen strong year-to-date growth this fiscal year." He noted the service primarily serves seniors and people with disabilities but also accommodates workers and other riders when space is available.
Coleman gave detailed West Stockbridge usage figures: since July the Connector has served 30 unique West Stockbridge riders for 343 total rides through April of 2026; in May the town saw 65 rides for 14 riders, most commonly for medical trips to Fairview Outpatient. He told the board that 64–85 percent of West Stockbridge rides are for seniors or riders with disabilities depending on month, and that the average trip distance for the town is about 12 miles.
Coleman said the systemwide share of ride requests the Connector could not meet was about 15 percent in May; for West Stockbridge that rate was higher, about 22 percent. "Communities farther from the dispatch hub are harder to serve for same-day requests," he said, adding that the Connector will apply for a Massachusetts Council on Aging demonstration grant to station a vehicle closer to West Stockbridge during weekdays and to evaluate whether that lowers the unmet-request rate.
Coleman described recent investments: MassDOT funded 85 percent of two new accessible electric Ford Transit vans (the town provided a 15 percent local match for one vehicle), the Connector hired six additional on-demand drivers, and it rolled out new operations software that calls riders with confirmations and provides estimated arrival notices. He said the Connector also received a $600,000 MassDOT microtransit/last-mile grant that will fund most of FY27 operations if award conditions hold.
Board members asked about rider access. Coleman provided the Connector booking phone number (413-591-3826) and noted a smartphone app and web booking; he also described plans to integrate BRTA GTFS schedules so the Connector can present timed connections to BRTA services when appropriate. The director said the Connector refers riders to BRTA or veterans' transportation providers (Soldier On) when it cannot meet requests.
Coleman said the Connector is preparing an operations dashboard that will publish near-real-time performance and town-level filters (on-time rate, senior vs. non-senior rides, trip purpose) within weeks. He told the board the FY27 operating plan maintains core service levels (6 a.m.–9 p.m., seven days a week) and keeps fares at $3 in-town, $6 multi-town, and free for veterans under a foundation subsidy.
The presentation closed with Coleman asking the board to support outreach and local match commitments where required for grants; board members thanked him and asked staff to coordinate on any needed municipal actions or local-match authorizations.
