ACCEPT/Transportation

ACCEPT Transportation
ACCEPT has been involved in coordinating and providing special needs student transportation services since 1978. After five years of taxi cab runs, marginal performance and limited control over costs, the ACCEPT Board of Directors decided to jointly coordinate transportation for its special needs students. ACCEPT employed a Transportation Coordinator who served as a "Middle Man" with no control routing, drivers or vehicle maintenance. Service was only fair with a noticeable deterioration over the last two years of the contract. In 1982 the Board employed a consultant to determine whether or not ACCEPT should operate its own transportation network. The results of the study indicated that in addition to the savings, schools would have control of the operation.

In 1983 ACCEPT, on behalf of its members, entered into a 3-year lease arrangement for vehicles, hired a Transportation Manager, a Dispatcher, 35 part time drivers and became a transportation provider. In September 1983, ACCEPT provided transportation services for its students for the first time. ACCEPT Transportation's role is to coordinate all aspects of transportation. Our goal at ACCEPT is to provide dependable, courteous, timely, and safe transportation. ACCEPT ensures that all vehicles are safe, properly licensed, and maintained. Drivers are carefully selected, trained and 7-D licensed.

Currently, ACCEPT Transportation, which is located in the Juniper Hill School at 29 Upper Joclyn Avenue in Framingham, MA employs a full time Transportation Manager, one dispatcher and one Training and Safety Specialist. The fleet consists of 83 min-vans, 16 wheelchair vans, which travel approximately 6000 miles per day. There are approximately 115 staff members consisting of drivers and monitors who service over 400 students going to 100 locations.

For additional information contact:
Peg Murphy, Transportation Manager at: 508-620-3875
EMAIL: pmurphy@accept.org