Ticket to Ride

Can you imagine living in Houston without a car? Sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it? Especially since the only significant public transportation system we have is the METRO bus system. (I refuse to count the train as a “system.”) Taking a bus can involve hours waiting for the correct bus or buses to arrive and then waiting as it makes countless stops on the way to your destination. Now imagine facing jail time or a court sanction if you miss an appointment or are chronically late to one. If you are on court supervision, you are expected to hold down a job or be a full-time student, attend meetings with your probation officer and treatment provider, and submit to random urinalysis testing. This can involve getting to four different locations on time several times a month. These obligations become a huge problem if you don’t have access to reliable transportation.

Until recently, Justice Forward had just a few ways to assist with transportation: METRO bus cards and gas cards. The gas cards helped people who had access to a vehicle, but no money for gas. The bus cards were not ideal due to the long and irregular transit times described above. Both methods presented issues regarding monitoring, too—it was impossible to know how a client used the cards. However, this was the best we could do until we discovered the Harris County Rides program. 

Harris County Rides is a subsidized program that allows individuals and referring agencies to purchase transportation at a significant discount—it’s actually subsidized at a dollar-for-dollar match. Rides offers two modes of transportation: Shared Ride providers and Taxi providers. Taxi rides are metered, and the shared ride providers use mileage between the pick-up location and the destination. The rides can be scheduled months in advance or on the same day, by the client or by the agency on behalf of a client, offering users and agencies tremendous flexibility.

Since we support 18 different courts, each serving a different type of client, their transportation needs are vary greatly. The Rides program allows each court to develop their own guidelines and restrictions. For example, STAR Drug Court clients are often ordered to transitional housing directly from jail if they have nowhere safe to live, so a ride can be scheduled to pick up the client at the Harris County Jail and transport them directly to the transitional living facility. Another common situation we encounter is providing transportation to regular counseling sessions. With the Rides Program, a court can give the client their own Rides card to use or schedule months of rides their behalf for reoccurring appointments.

Aside from the ability to craft a unique transportation plan for each Specialty Court, the Rides program also promotes accountability, which is essential to client success. The program has an online tracking system that monitors trips in real time. With each trip listed by client name, a probation officer can see the time and location of where the client is picked up, the duration and cost of the trip, and the address of the final destination, both during the ride and at any point after its completion. 

Getting around Houston is difficult enough even with a car. Having access to reliable, accessible and affordable transportation makes possible not only the successful completion of these court programs, but also the building blocks of a better life, like a stable job. We are excited to provide this option to our clients and grateful for the opportunity to partner with Harris County on such an innovative program.