One of the Summit County government’s goals in the next five years is to increase transportation services for seniors.
Deputy County Manager Janna Young said this week the county is turning to the transit agency it created in 2021 for help.
“We've been working with High Valley Transit to launch a new program next year that would be kind of on-demand services for seniors in North Summit and South Summit,” Young said at Wednesday’s Summit County Council meeting. “Which is a really big deal because we don't have transit, certainly, to North Summit right now.”
Older residents could get rides to medical appointments, she says, or other errands. Summit County seniors rely on volunteers to shuttle them to and from social outings right now.
“Then also, maybe every Monday, we would do a trip to Kimball Junction for folks to get their grocery shopping done, or their hair cut, or their nails cut, or whatever it might be,” Young said.
To fund the initiative, High Valley is applying for a grant from the Federal Transit Administration, according to its August board meeting minutes.
Chief financial officer Matt Leavitt says the Summit County has earmarked some of its annual contribution to High Valley to match the grant, if it comes through.
The county council is reviewing the budget almost every week until it votes on it in December.
On Wednesday, it adopted four goals to improve senior services by 2031. Transportation is one of the areas of focus.
The county also aims to meet the needs of a growing senior population, strengthen the senior centers themselves and foster community.
There are three senior centers: one in Park City, one in Kamas and another in Coalville.
Summit County and High Valley Transit are financial supporters of KPCW.
