Transportation in Midland

Early On | MCESA | Community Mental Health | Transportation

Transportation is one of our biggest and most basic needs.

• We need to be transported in order to buy food and pay bills.
• We need to be transported in order to go to work and church.
• We need to be transported in order to fully participate in community life.

However, for those without their own vehicle and/or a driver's license, transportation within the community can quickly become a problem.

Dial A Ride Transportation

Midland has a variety of transportation venues available to its residents. The best known, and probably most used transportation system is the City of Midland’s Dial-a-Ride. Dial-a-Ride Transportation (DART) provides demand-response public transportation for travel within City of Midland limits. Demand-response service means that a vehicle will transport you from the place of your choice to the place of your choice within the city of Midland, as opposed to standard pre-determined bus stops. When using the demand-response service, you must call DART at least 60 minutes before you need to be picked up, and plan on a 25-minute bus ride to your destination. Please keep in mind that ride times may be longer during busier hours.

In addition, DART offers standing order service. Standing order service allows you to make one call and schedule a DART pick up at the same time each day or week. For example, if you go to work every morning at 8:00 a.m., you can make one call to schedule a daily pick up without having to call every day, as long as your ride time remains the same. Another example is if you attend church every Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., you can make one call to assure that you are picked up every Sunday in time for church. It is important to remember that scheduled pick up times will be plus or minus 10 minutes. For example, for a 9:00 a.m. pickup, the DART bus could arrive between 8:50 a.m. and 9:10 a.m. The driver will only wait two minutes before continuing to the next stop.

DART is open to receive telephone calls as follows:

Monday through Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Busses run from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Saturday: 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Busses run from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Sunday the phone service is closed. Busses run from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Please remember to schedule your Sunday rides in advance.)

Fare costs $2.00 for adults and $0.75 for the elderly and individuals with disabilities. Books of tickets may be purchased from DART drivers and are also available at the Municipal Service Center, 4811 N. Saginaw Rd.

For more information, contact DART at 989-837-6940 or check out their web page at http://www.midland-mi.org/government/departments/dps/dart/dart.htm.

County Connection

If you live outside of the City of Midland and are in need of a ride within Midland County, the County Connection is available. County Connection is a demand/response transit system operated for and supervised by the County of Midland. Services are county-wide, and available to all residents of Midland County except those within the city of Midland, depending on destination. County Connection provides curb-to-curb transportation services for Midland County residents to and from work, school, medical appointments and shopping.

The County Connection busses schedule is as follows:

Monday through Friday 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

The cost for riding County Connection is $2.50 each way for adults and $2.00 each way for the elderly and individuals with disabilities.

For more information on the County Connection or to schedule a ride, please call (989)837-9540.

Other transportation

Dial-a-Ride Transportation and County Connection are Midland’s two forms of public transportation. Airport Taxi Service (695-6513), is available to transport people only to and from the Tri-City Airport in Freeland.

If you need transportation, please contact one of the available services listed above.