OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Winnebago County offers a different kind of lift to get you around town.
Deb Martin volunteers, to share her wheels a few times a week. And tells FOX 11 she does it for the people.
The Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation started Winnebago Catch-A-Ride in 2019.
Director Tricia Rathermel tells FOX 11 its meant to fill a transportation gap.
“A lot of people don’t think about the fact that if you don’t have a car, how you get around, and what you do, especially in rural Wisconsin it is very difficult. This connects people who need rides to work with volunteers who can help facilitate that and get them on their feet and get them to work.”
The rideshare program is offered all over Winnebago County.
Rathermel says the pandemic left them wondering,
“We didn’t know if we would lose all of our riders because people were getting laid off or furloughed. Surprisingly the industries that we serve, a lot of manufacturing, it is a lot of the service industry, restaurants and some hospitals.”
As the unemployment rate rebounds and local companies start hiring, Rathermel says more people will need rides to work.
But Martin says Catch-A-Ride covers where the City of Oshkosh program has a flaw.
“The Oshkosh Go-Transit has a plan to get people to work on off-hours or when the buses aren’t running but you can only make $13 an hour.”
Workers who make more than $13 aren’t eligible for after-hours service.
“So now people are in a bind. They can maybe take the bus but a lot of the manufacturing in Oshkosh is at the south end and the north end of the city and the buses don’t go there.”
Rathermel says Catch-A-Ride provided more than 19-hundred trips for employment in 2020 — and they need help.
“This is a really great way you can help us to restart our economy and get people to work.”
Find out how you can sign up to volunteer or utilize Catch-A-Ride in Winnebago County click here.
Or call 920-225-1719.
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