Nonprofit reports thousands of rides, high on-time rate for Waupaca County shared-ride service

Valerie Leler, executive director of Phoenix Mobility Rising, told the Waupaca Common Council that the nonprofit’s Waupaca County Catch Ride Network has completed thousands of trips since it took over the local taxi contract and is expanding service beyond city limits.

Leler said the program started with a rapid, five-day launch and early operational challenges but has grown quickly. “We have done over 8,500 rides since we got started,” she told the council, and reported the service carried about 1,200 rides in the earliest days and is approaching 2,000 rides in May alone. She said unique riders rose from about 172 to more than 217 in recent months.

The service now covers the city limits plus county edges and about three miles beyond, she said, enabling trips to New London and other nearby towns. Leler said employment trips account for nearly 70% of rides, followed by medical and food-access trips, and that the service has been important for workforce mobility: “When somebody gets in the vehicle, you need to be to work on time,” she said, describing a worker who would lose a $1,200 bonus for lateness.

The fleet mix includes standard minivans, four wheelchair-accessible vans, three SUVs and one electric vehicle funded through a workforce innovation grant. Leler cautioned that EV range falls in very cold weather — “about 140 miles a charge when it’s negative -10 degrees compared to about 240 on a nice summer day” — and said the program has logged more than 100,000 miles in its first five months.

On service quality, Leler said the network posts a 94% on-time pick-up rate within the service’s 30-minute window and fills roughly 97% of riders’ safety surveys: “97.2% rate the service as extremely safe,” she said. She added that about 2.5% of ride requests go unfilled, most commonly because requests fall outside service hours or due to peak demand.

Council members thanked Leler and raised operational questions. One councilor reported a billing issue in which a rider paid by card but was asked for cash in the vehicle; Leler asked for details and said staff would follow up. On funding, Leler said Wisconsin treats some revenue and in-kind support differently than other states, limiting the state’s recognition of certain local revenues as federal matching funds and complicating how nonprofits participate under state procurement rules.

Leler also noted partnerships that will increase medical rides, including an agreement with Kings Veterans Home expected to add about 180 rides a month.

The city received the briefing and did not take action. Council members encouraged residents to use the service and said they were pleased with the early performance metrics.