When transportation works, Florida works.

Marisa is a young mother with epilepsy who has depended on Tri-County Community Council's transportation services to get her son to daycare and get her to work for several years. Her driver's license was taken away from her in 1994 due to her epilepsy and she has been dependent on the transportation services ever since.

Due to the worsening of her condition she is not currently working, but she plans to begin courses for medical or legal transcription at a local technical school so that she can work from home and hopes to use the service in order to get to class.

"Without the transportation system I wouldn't have a way to get around, so they've really been a life saver."

When transportation works, Maryland works.

Barbara is a woman that the media often portrays as a welfare mom. Yes, it may be true that she had received welfare funds from 1986 until 2001 - but not any longer- since she has moved from dependence on state handouts to self-sufficiency.

She was living in rural Crisfield when the Somerset Commuter started its transportation operation in November 2000. She was able to use the public transportation system to attend Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) classes at a nursing home twenty miles away from her home. Once her training was completed and she received her certification as a CNA worker, she was hired by the nursing home, and continued to use the public transportation system to get back and forth to work. In the spring of 2003, she was accepted as a candidate for the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program at WorWic Community College, in Wicomico County. This dream would never have been made possible without services from Shore Transit coming into existence. "I had always wanted, since being a girl, to be a nurse and now, God willing, I will be one. I just put my one foot in front of the other and everyday I go to school and to my job and I am going to make it, you just watch me".

When transportation works, North Carolina works.

In Stanly County, Melissa, a 41 year old who found out she had a malignant brain tumor last year used transportation services to get to her radiation and physical therapy treatments. She lived in another county but her parents were in Stanly County so she moved back for treatments so they could care for her. Her parents were elderly and didn't know how they were going to get her back and forth.

Melissa's sister contacted the SCUSA Community Transportation System after her parents were at their "wits end" and they set up transportation for treatments and to doctor appointments. The family was thrilled that the service was available and could be worked out for their daughter. "We wouldn't have been able to provide the medical treatment she needed without the transportation. It was easier on the entire family."

When transportation works, Ohio works.

Rose is 84 years young. Though she is an Ohio native, she has spent many years serving her country through various projects and in many locations.

However, since 1999, Rose has been without a means of transportation, and was afraid that as a result she would have to move out of the home she owned. Rose is legally blind and has a pilot dog, a Labrador retriever named Tory, who accompanies her wherever she goes, which until recently was only to the doctor's office.

Yet as a result of Licking County Transit's Board coordination efforts, through Rides 4 You, Rose can now get to the store, attend her meeting with the Daughters of the American Revolution, and take the arthritis exercise classes she missed so much at the YMCA. "My life has changed," Rose says, "and now I am so happy." "The people who operate the system are like angels from heaven!" Now Rose has her life back again, along with her cherished independence.

When transportation works, Washington State works.

Sally lives and works in Yakima, Washington. She is both a user and the Chair of the Yakima County Coordinated Transportation Coalition. Sally is blind and depends on transportation services like People for People and Access Paratransit to get to work and appointments and to run errands when she is not able to use the area's transit system.

Last year, Sally had an injury that limited her ability to walk, so was dependent on the transportation services. Especially during winter she finds it much safer and easier for her to use these services, which provide door-to-door service. "The drivers have been awesome, and it has made it a lot easier to go from one place to another which I have to do for work."