Minibuses will offer on-demand, point-to-point transportation in 2025
GRF BOARD HIGHLIGHTS
by Ruth Osborn
Communications Director
The Golden Rain Foundation Board of Directors met Sept. 24 to consider the feasibility of using the community’s Minibus transportation system in a new way that would save money, yet still provide the dependable and comfortable level of service that it is known for.
The proposal is to change the current fixedschedule, fixed- route Minibus system that now provides transportation within Leisure World to an on-call, on-demand service that would still be provided by Minibus shuttles.
On the recommendation of the Member Services Committee, the board voted 16-2 to approve the change, effective Jan. 1. The on-demand system will still include service to the Seal Beach Village shopping center in addition to Leisure World venues.
This is a cost-effective solution to meet weekly demand, according to GRF Fleet Manager Grant Winford who devised the plan, which is dubbed the GRF 145 P/P proposal. The “145” refers to the estimated number of staff hours per week to run the service. The “P/P” is short for point-to-point, which usually refers to the transfer of a passenger to a destination without any detours or stops. But in this scenario, there may occasionally be additional stops if several people simultaneously call for rides to the same destination, Dollar Tree, for example.
The plan comes as a compromise to a controversial proposal unveiled early in the year to replace the Minibuses with an off-site personal transit service that uses an app to summon all-electric shuttles that then ferry passengers from one location directly to another. That proposal was drafted to save money in the wake of skyrocketing insurance costs, but detractors expressed concern over losing the Minibuses’ ease of use and comfort, friendly GRF bus drivers, the lack of resident input in the proposal and the speed at which it progressed through the approval process.
The Minibus fleet, which includes four new buses and one Access handicap bus, will be used to transport people within Leisure World and to Seal Beach Village. Residents will call the dispatcher and give their location. The bus should arrive in 10 or fewer minutes.
Transportation to and from large GRF events as well as Access handicap service will still be available. Service hours will mostly remain unchanged. Regular service hours will be weekdays from 8 a.m.-6
The new system will allow residents to call rides as they need them, rather than wait for buses to arrive at a scheduled time.
The Minibus fleet, which includes four new Minibuses (pictured), will provide on-call transportation to Leisure World residents beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
Paul Kryczko
p.m., Saturdays from 8:30 a.m.6:30 p.m. and Sundays from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Access bus hours for residents with mobility issues hours will be unchanged and will still require appointments three days in advance.
