Dialysis patients’ use of public transportation rises

Theodore Montgomery has been on dialysis since last fall and uses Project Mobility to get to his treatments.  Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer Theodore Montgomery has been on dialysis since last fall and uses Project Mobility to get to his treatments.  Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

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Agencies seeking solutions  to dialysis transport demands

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By James Cummings, Staff Writer Updated 12:19 AM Monday, June 15, 2009

The first few times 82-year-old Theodore Montgomery traveled the seven miles from his home to the East Dayton location of Dialysis Centers of Dayton, he drove himself.

“Sometimes I felt pretty bad when I came off the dialysis machine,” Montgomery said. “I had to stop driving.”

Montgomery, who started receiving kidney dialysis treatments in August, qualified for Project Mobility, and now a Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority van gets him back and forth to the dialysis center three times a week.

Montgomery’s trips are among 3,000 rides a month that the transit authority provides for an ever-growing population of people who require transportation for dialysis treatments, according to Allison Ledford, the transit authority’s operations director.

Ledford said that from 2003 to 2008, dialysis trips represented 6 percent to 8 percent of rides provided by Project Mobility, a transportation service geared toward passengers with disabilities. In the first three months of 2009, the percentage jumped to 13 percent of the caseload, said Ledford.

Project Mobility passengers pay $3 per trip. Ledford said transportation for the handicapped is heavily subsidized, and each Project Mobility trip, including dialysis trips, costs $30 to provide.

It’s a significant issue when budget problems are forcing the transit authority to consider raising fares and cutting services.

Ledford said despite this, there are no plans to cut Project Mobility services. However, under a proposal before the transit board, Project Mobility rides would increase to $3.50 or $3.70.

Continue reading: Agencies seeking solutions  to dialysis transport demands

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