ACC Rides Celebrates 20th Anniversary

(Shown in photo: ACC Rides Transportation Advisory Committee, circa 2016, left to right: Alex Eng, Gordon Low, Lynn Kurahara, Nancy Iseri, Virginia Wieneke, Dannis Voong, Jessie Lee, Joaquin Ngarangad, Linda Revilla, Robert Ito, and Mary Harding)

ACC Rides Transportation Service is reaching a huge milestone. We will be celebrating our 20th Anniversary in February! Guess what this means? I will be celebrating my 20th year working for ACC Rides, a program that is dear to my heart.

ACC Rides started in 2003 with one staff member, myself, and a handful of volunteer drivers and escorts ( “escorts” was later changed to “driver assistants”) and has grown to 16 staff and over 120 drivers and driver assistants. Some of the very first ACC Rides’ volunteers were Ernie Tanaka (the first), Chewy Ito, Akito Masaki, Robert Honda, Ben Yokomizu, Sam Inouye, and Robert Ito, to name a few.

ACC Rides expanded from one 8-passenger bus in 2003 to currently operating a whopping 22 vehicles! We initially served four zip codes in 2003 and now provide services in 13 zip codes and part of the Delta region.

 In 2019, Rides graduated from using Excel spreadsheets for everything and transitioned to a scheduling software program called MediRoutes. This allowed us to bring up client information with a few clicks as well as put ride information in the system and dispatch in real-time. It also allows any scheduling changes such as cancellations to be sent directly to a driver’s tablet and dispatchers to view the location of our vehicles, and it gives us the ability to provide a higher level of service to Rides’ clients.

ACC Rides has been very fortunate to have a solid and dedicated team. They truly embody “Universal Employees” who wear different hats depending on the situation and need. The COVID-19 pandemic exemplified the staff’s adaptability and illustrated what we can accomplish in any situation we faced. Rides staff became adept as online grocery shoppers in order to provide food and other items for clients who were afraid to go out or may not have had any family nearby to rely on. Rides drivers also stepped up to deliver meals throughout Sacramento County. Many of the areas were outside the ACC Rides service area and were new to the drivers. ACC Rides staff made over 11,000 wellness calls to clients to assure they had everything they needed and to see if ACC could help in other ways. Some of the seniors we spoke with were happy to hear another person’s voice because they had not had any interaction with anyone for several weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic, ACC Rides provided 4,000 one-way trips, but when the pandemic hit, we were providing less than 250 one-way trips per month. We were given the option to cease operation like other programs and services ACC had, but we could not stop serving our clients who had to go to life-saving treatments such as dialysis and chemotherapy. We became very creative in providing the service to keep both staff and our clients safe.

Agency on Aging Area 4 (AAA4) and Paratransit, Inc., have been our partner agencies during the last two decades. ACC Rides is very thankful as they were the reason ACC Rides exists. Caltrans is one of the driving forces in enlarging the Rides fleet of vehicles and allowing us to hire additional staff, as well as retain the staff we currently have. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments guides and assists Rides with any funding availability and provides suggestions when submitting proposals. The Ann Land and Bertha Henschel Memorial Funds have been supporting ACC Rides for over ten years by subsidizing the contribution for clients attending the Meals on Wheels program and seniors going shopping. ITNAmerica is helping cover the cost of our clients’ related eye care appointments. These organizations and agencies helped ACC Rides stay afloat for the last 20 years.

The work ACC Rides has been doing for two decades has not gone unnoticed. Several volunteer drivers were recognized by Sacramento County Health and Human Services for their dedication to helping the community. We’ve received awards for Diversity in Leadership for Women in Transportation, Excellence in Safety Award from NonProfits United, and the Exceptional Performance Award from Agency on Aging Area 4. 

The new year is here. For some, it is difficult to celebrate because of the loss of a loved one, their health is not as good as it was, or their family members are far away. Let’s be kind to one another, smile (without the face mask on), and give to those who need it the most. Happy New Year from the ACC Rides Team!