Rural Rides: Providing Rideshare Matching, Volunteer Drivers
& Other Solutions for Low-Income Earners
In Brief: To aid low-wage earners commuting long distances across very rural areas, Rural Rides –
supported by the Minnesota Workforce Center, Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency and
Arrowhead Transit – provides:
 Rideshare matching,
 Volunteer driver services, and
 Individualized transportation planning.
Each local workforce one-stop center in the region has an in-house transportation representative to work
one-on-one with job seekers.
Five hundred individual travel solutions were completed in the first 18 months of the program. Partners
consider Rural Rides money well spent and an investment in getting people to work.
The geography of the Arrowhead region of northeast Minnesota can complicate efforts to create
transportation-to-work solutions. However, thanks to Rural Rides, a locally designed, rurally-responsive
program that provides rideshare-matching and volunteer driver–linking services, individualized
transportation planning, and other supports, people are finding new ways to get to work.
The contiguous four counties that make up the region (which together resemble the shape of an
arrowhead) encompass 13,000 square miles and are still home to a vibrant iron mining industry. The
population of 170,000 people is spread across several small towns (including Hibbing, the home of music
star Bob Dylan) in a region peppered with lakes and home to the state’s only mountain range. Because
of the geography, employment opportunities can often be a great distance from home, and public
transportation often struggles to keep up with the needs of people living in this vast area with lowdensity population and extreme winter weather conditions. The weather can also make operating a
private vehicle difficult and limits the use of walking or biking.
Based in Virginia, Minnesota, Rural Rides is operated by Arrowhead Transit, which is housed in the
Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA), and is run in cooperation with the Minnesota
Workforce Center. The service builds on AEOA’s long history of providing transportation assistance to
recipients of welfare-to-work services.
Rural Rides was designed in response to two needs identified in the region’s 2007 human services
coordination transit plan: 1) more flexible, better coordinated services and 2) transportation education
and individualized transportation planning. In that coordination process, it also emerged that
community members were frequently not pursuing or were in fact losing jobs because they lacked the
transportation resources to go to work or interviews.
Kyle Erickson, who supervises AEOA job development and TANF services staff, sees Rural Rides as a
safety net for folks with limited financial resources to spend on transportation. “Transportation is always
a major concern for low-income individuals, especially in rural environments,” he said. “We do have
excellent public transportation, but it is fragmented because of the rural nature of this region. Rural
Rides helps those who cannot afford the bus and fills in the gaps in public transportation. Transportation
should not be a reason for not finding employment.”
Funding for the Rural Rides program is provided by the Minnesota DOT through a Job Access and
Reverse Commute (JARC) grant. Matching funds were provided in part by the Department of Human
Services’ Employment & Training Department, using Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP; state
version of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program) funding. The Blandin Foundation, an
organization dedicated to strengthening rural Minnesota communities, provided expansion funding for
the service in 2008.
Rural Rides Users
To qualify for Rural Rides services, customers must be living at 150% or below of the poverty level and
be at risk of losing a job or be unable to attend job training or engage in job searches and interviews
because of a lack of transportation. Entry level employees may also qualify for Rural Rides for a limited
time. Common transportation barriers include limited access to public transportation, shift work during
hours when public transportation is unavailable, the need for wheelchair-accessible vehicles, lack of a
driver’s license, and challenges in transporting children to and from child care during work trips.
Incorporating Mobility Management as Part of a Toolbox Approach
Rural Rides implements a mobility management approach to helping MFIP customers that is centered on
an individualized transportation plan for each customer. The first transportation strategy applied to a
customer’s needs is to familiarize them with the available public transit schedule to determine if this is a
viable alternative for their work trips.
If public transit is unavailable, participants are encouraged to identify a “buddy” working at or near their
job site with whom they can commute. Driver buddies must be registered with Rural Rides and provide
proof of insurance and a valid drivers’ license. Each ride must be work-related and either the rider or
driver must be meet income guidelines to qualify for financial support through Rural Rides.
Generally, participation in the Rural Rides rideshare program arrangement is limited to three months,
allowing participants to become stabilized in their employment, but exceptions have been made for
persons with severe economic challenges. Drivers submit mileage information on a weekly basis, and
qualify to receive up to $150 in monthly mileage reimbursements.
When no ridesharing options are available, MFIP customers may be matched with a volunteer driver,
whose mileage is reimbursed by Rural Rides. During the first 18 months of operation, Rural Rides
provided nearly 31,000 rides across its rideshare and volunteer driver services, with small increases in
the rideshare side in 2009 and 2010. The volunteer driver service remained close to its 2008 level
because of only limited funding for reimbursing volunteers.
AEOA also provides bus tickets for public transit and taxi vouchers, and assistance in budgeting for travel
expenses.
Individualized Transportation Planning
AEOA transportation advocates are a key component of the Rural Rides Initiative. These individuals
qualify participants for Rural Rides, provide them the support they need to travel to jobs, and monitor
their monthly participation in the program. The advocate’s ultimate goal is to move each customer
toward transportation self-sufficiency.
These advocates work closely with MFIP’s Employment and Training Department counselors to identify
potential program participants and to market Rural Rides options. In addition, the transportation
advocates routinely present at “Work First” meetings, which job seekers are required to attend, to share
information about Rural Rides with new entrants into the MFIP Program.
New Rural Rides customers are linked with a transportation advocate, who develops an individualized
transportation plan with them and matches them with transportation-to-work solutions. These plans
take into consideration child care needs, travel distance, work schedule, and other special needs. In the
first 18 months of Rural Rides operations, the transportation advocates developed more than 500
individualized transportation plans.
Participants are tracked through an Internet-based system used by Minnesota community action
agencies to measure the impact of various social service programs. The system allows travel advocates
to monitor the quality and quantity of service provided to individual customers.
Effective Outreach and Marketing
AEOA targets its outreach and marketing activities to local workforce centers, the Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe, health and human services providers, and large employers. For example, the human resources
department of the Chippewa-operated casino shares information about Rural Rides with employees and
potential employees and has been willing to adjust employee schedules to facilitate rideshare
arrangements. The Salvation Army and Goodwill post Rural Rides information at their sites. Program
information is also distributed via public service announcements, through the local media and via the
AEOA, Arrowhead Transit and the Northland Rides websites.
In addition, AEOA places a transit representative in each One-Stop Career Center in the region. AEOA
supervisor Erickson considers this to be money well spent – an investment into getting people to work.
Lessons Learned
Marcia Mehle, who runs the Rural Rides program, identified several lessons she and her staff have
learned in implementing the program:

Time limits on transportation support, usually a three-month maximum, should be discussed
before an individual accepts a job. Customers need to ensure that after three months, they will
continue to have a way to travel to the job.

A driver buddy program is more cost-effective than a volunteer driver program given the
amount of administrative support needed to manage the latter.

A driver buddy program provides the flexibility needed to match shift workers with
transportation as some employers offer only staggered or split shifts.

It is a reality that public transit cannot fulfill all the needs in extremely rural areas; alternatives
that support public transit need to be implemented.

Outreach to workers’ employers is most effective at the direct supervisor or program manager
level, where employees’ transportation difficulties have the most impact and supervisors are
motivated to help employees find solutions. It is also good to share information on
transportation options with human resource departments.
For additional information about the Rural Rides program, visit www.arrowheadtransit.com, or contact
Marcia Mehle at 218-262-7306 or marcia.mehle@aeoa.org or kyle.erickson@aeoa.org.
With funding from the Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, and the Federal Transit
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, the Joblinks Employment Transportation Center connects
communities with transportation-to-work solutions. Visit us at www.ctaa.org/joblinks.
This publication was prepared pursuant to a grant from the Employment and Training Administration, U.S.
Department of Labor. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and should
not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the federal government. 2010