FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JT Wingett Paratransit Services Phone: 1-800-933-3468 ext. 399 E-mail: jtw@paratransit.net Paratransit Services Awarded $438,776 Federal Transit Administration Grant for Veterans Transportation Project Bremerton, Washington - November 10, 2011 - A nonprofit company based in Bremerton, Washington, has been awarded $438,776 from the Federal Transit Administration as part of the agency’s Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative (VTCLI). The grant award will be administered by the Washington State Department of Transportation. Paratransit Services will use the funding to implement a “One-Call/One-Click” Transportation Resource Center that will facilitate access to transportation for military veterans and their families in Western Washington. The Resource Center will be located in Bremerton, where much of the infrastructure, such as telecommunications equipment and staff trained to process transportation requests, is already in place. For the new One-Call/One-Click project, Paratransit Services will establish new links with Veterans Administration hospitals in Seattle and Tacoma, and install informational computer “kiosks” at Community Based Outpatient Clinics, Veterans Centers, and VA hospitals. Once the project has met the goal of meeting the needs of military veterans and their families, the long range plan is to expand the One Call/One Click concept so that the general public will benefit from a more fully coordinated transportation system. Paratransit Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit company that was founded in Kitsap County, where they began providing accessible transportation services in 1980. The company has continuously operated a brokerage-based transportation call center in Bremerton since 1988, under contract with the State of Washington. Historically, Paratransit Services has arranged as many as 1.2 million trips annually. The VTCLI Project builds on the brokerage approach to transportation coordination, and the company’s established call center in Bremerton. In addition to its work as a transportation broker, Paratransit Services also currently manages public transit systems in the states of Washington (CUBS Paratransit in Longview); Oregon (Cascades East Transit in Bend and Valley Lift in Medford); and Northern California where they operate accessible public transit systems serving the Counties of Tehama (TRAX and ParaTRAX), Lassen (Lassen Rural Bus), Glenn (Glenn Ride and Glenn Dial-A-Ride), Lake (Lake Transit), and Calaveras (Calaveras Transit). - end -