BY VIVIENNE AGUILAR
CV Journalism Collaborative
Linda Wilson hasn’t been able to drive since breaking her arm on Easter.
Still the Ceres retiree has been able to make it to all of her medical appointments and social calls with ease. But she’s not taking a bus, taxi,ride share or even relying on friends for her door-to-door service.
Instead, she uses Care Cruisers, a free publicly-funded transportation program offered to all Stanislaus County residents aged 50 and up, plus people with disabilities or mobility issues.
“I like this better than the bus, or a taxi,” Wilson said, “it’s better, free and I get to meet new people, see places around the area I haven’t before.”
The door-to-door service is provided free to county residents who qualify, thanks to Measure L, a half-percent sales tax increase passed by Stanislaus County voters a decade ago.
In addition to paying for major local road improvements like the State Route 132 West bypass and Seventh Street Bridge replacement, Measure L has funded transportation initiatives like Care Cruisers through the nonprofit organization MOVE Stanislaus.
As the region’s Consolidated Transportation Services Agency, the organization coordinates and operates specialized transportation programs for the elderly, those with disabilities and people with other mobility issues in the county. MOVE partners with the area bus systems and other groups to ensure vulnerable populations are able to get around and have fulfilling lives without owning a car.
“People call and say this changes their lives,” said Kristin Bragg, director of operations for MOVE Stanislaus.
Bragg said that’s particularly true for residents without family nearby to help them get to medical appointments. Programs she oversees provide personal transportation to the elderly, disabled, veterans and more.
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“People are saying, ‘This saved my life. I have no family. I have nobody to drive me, and I need to get to these medical appointments,’” she said.
Care Cruisers offers weekday door-to-door service that’s available from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The initial program, started in 2018, was run by Catholic Charities and overseen by MOVE. In 2023 the nonprofit took over operations and renamed the service.
Riders like Wilson used the service through Catholic Charities while living in Jamestown. She started using it again under the new program, after she moved.
On a recent Thursday in August, Care Cruisers driver Nellie Suarez picked Wilson up from home and took her to a physical therapy appointment in Modesto and back. Wilson has utilized the service two to three times a week for appointments and other social calls, after breaking her arm.
Joining Wilson in the recent ride was Turlock resident Linda Miencier. She and her husband ride the Turlock Transit regularly now that they are older, but it’s not easy for them to get to Modesto on the bus. So Care Cruisers has been a great help, she said.
Care Cruisers picked her up from her vet in Modesto and took her home to Turlock with her cat in tow. The service allows pets, as long as they’re in carriers, which was a great surprise to Miencier.
The program serves all nine incorporated cities in Stanislaus County plus six unincorporated communities, including Denair, Empire and Valley Home.
Tony Hill, CEO of MOVE Stanislaus, said the organization aims to ensure residents, especially those in the unincorporated and rural areas, can get around, and Care Cruisers is making a significant difference.
In the last fiscal year, Care Cruisers served 944 individual riders, made 1,407 trips and drove 30,703 miles. These numbers reflect a steady increase in participants since they took over the program, Hill said.
As a Stockton resident, Hill said other counties in the San Joaquin Valley would greatly benefit from the services a local transportation sales tax like Measure L could provide. Stanislaus County, to his knowledge, is the only county in California that funds a free program like Care Cruisers.
While private groups, medical providers and nonprofits around the state sometimes offer similar ride programs for specific uses, Hill said he wasn’t aware of other free general purpose door-to-door services that are funded directly by a county.
“What we hear is that everyone wants this, but you’ve got to have that self-tax to get it,” Hill said. “So that’s the thing. They don’t have anything like this necessarily in Merced County or you know out in Placer or different counties. They don’t have this. They may have a mileage reimbursement, but they don’t have this.”
He credits local leaders like former Oakdale City Councilwoman Mickey Peabody and the late Modesto City Councilwoman Jenny Kenoyer – who both served as the MOVE founding directors – for their work canvassing their communities to get Measure L passed in 2016, when previous attempts in the early 2000s failed. The 25-year tax will run through 2042 in Stanislaus County.
“The reason why we have Care Cruisers has everything to do with the vision of Jenny and Mickey, and the opportunity they saw,” he said.
The service has become a point of pride for drivers like Suarez, who has been with the program since its Catholic Charities days and received training to be a driver through MOVE.
She said she feels close to the five other Care Cruisers drivers, even though she doesn’t see them that often, because of the attention they all pay to recurring riders. The Care Cruisers branded fleet of vehicles they use are regularly detailed and maintenanced.
“I love to meet the people who need these rides,” Suarez said. “I love to hear their stories, their history, how they got here, their jobs.”
Her passengers don’t often expect a driver to be so interested in their lives, she said. So when she engages with them, especially the regulars, it makes her happy to see them light up.
As the program progresses, MOVE is adapting the driver’s schedules to meet the requests of passengers. For example, when many riders asked to go grocery shopping early at 7 a.m., some drivers began starting their shifts at 6:30 a.m.
Suarez, who drives about six trips a day across Stanislaus County, has shuttled riders to loved one’s houses, hair salons, auto shops, the mall and brought them home. She said medical appointments are the most common, but as long as the destination is within the county, Care Cruisers can get them there.
“Everybody’s very, very nice,” she said. “All the clients are very lovable and understanding.”
Stanislaus residents over 50, who cannot use StanRTA’s ADA paratransit service because they require door-through-door assistance, or those who have another disability that prevents them from driving or using other forms of public transportation can call Care Cruisers at 209-672-1143.
