Contra Costa Travel Training Program for Seniors, Disabled

The West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC) just re-launched a Travel Training mobility program for seniors and disabled adults residing in Contra Costa County. The program was put on hold during the pandemic, and has started up again for the first time since 2019. CCTAC staff used guidance from MTC’s Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan to launch the program. 

The Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Plan helps Bay Area transit agencies, cities and counties better meet the transportation needs of people with disabilities, seniors and people with low incomes – so that all Bay Area residents can get to where they need to go. The Coordinated Plan is updated every four years with assistance from a technical advisory committee of transportation professionals. Members of the public also weighed in on the development of the upcoming Coordinated Plan, anticipated to be released at the end of this year.

Travel Training is just one element of the Coordinated Plan. The training helps people learn how to use the bus, ferry, BART, paratransit and local van services for seniors so they are comfortable traveling around the Bay Area using transit. 

Travel Training programs throughout the Bay Area and across the country are especially important for people who cannot use or do not have access to a personal vehicle.

During the program’s August 2023 trip, three Travel Trainer volunteers from WCCTAC joined five seniors from the City of San Pablo Senior Center as they traveled to the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez. They rode a San Pablo Senior & Disabled Transportation shuttle to the Richmond Parkway Transit Center, where event participants learned how to use the Amtrak system. From there, the group continued to the Hercules Transit Center, where they boarded a WestCAT bus that took them to their destination in Martinez. 

Participants were able to take advantage of fare discounts by using Clipper®, the Bay Area’s all-in-one transit card. Fare discounts are available for seniors, people with disabilities, youth and people with low incomes.

Adults ages 65 and older can use Senior Clipper cards to receive discounted fares, while adults with disabilities under age 65 can use their Regional Transportation Connection (RTC) Clipper card. Senior Clipper and RTC Clipper cards are available as plastic cards or the accounts can be used on a smartphone by connecting them to a person’s digital/mobile wallet.

Visit ClipperCard.com for information about using Clipper on your smartphone.

MTC is the transportation planning, funding and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC operates the Clipper system on behalf of the region’s transit agencies.