Transportation & Getting Around

The Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired currently has 68 volunteers who donate their time by driving, reading, shopping, or providing companionship to our clients. If you need any of these services, please contact VABVI at 1-800-639-5861, ex.214 for more information.

Clients who utilize our transportation are primarily older adults who enjoyed good vision most of their lives and are now coping with age-related vision loss. Vermont is a rural state with a scattered, low-density population distribution, limited public transit, and practically no public transportation systems that run beyond town boundaries. There is no statewide public transportation system, such as a commuter rail infrastructure.

VABVI’s transportation program provides statewide transit for our clients. The program goes beyond the barriers of geography and time that other transportation services enforce, and it gives volunteers an opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of their visually impaired neighbors. Funded in part with state and federal dollars, VABVI’s program coordinates the services of our volunteer drivers with those of paid drivers, cab services, and para-transit services to eliminate service gaps and provide a system of transportation that is reliable throughout the state.