Senior Transportation in Washington: Rides for Older Adults (2026)

When an older adult in Washington stops driving, the question is not whether rides exist. It is which of several separate systems covers the trip in front of you, because Washington has no single senior-transportation program. The aging network offers rides through the Older Americans Act and a state companion program, delivered through the state's Area Agencies on Aging; every public transit agency must offer door-to-door paratransit to riders who cannot use the bus; Washington's Medicaid program covers rides to medical care for the people it insures; and a volunteer and private layer fills the gaps.1,2,3 Which door you reach for depends on who your parent is and where they are going, and one statewide phone number sorts most of it out.4

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Why There's No Single Senior Transportation Program in Washington
• The Aging Network: Older Americans Act and State-Funded Rides
• ADA Paratransit: King County Metro Access and Your Local Transit Agency
• Medical Trips: Apple Health, and Why Medicare Usually Won't
• The Volunteer and Private Layer in Washington
• Which Senior Transportation Option in Washington Fits the Trip
• How to Start: One Phone Call
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Why There's No Single Senior Transportation Program in Washington

Families in Washington go looking for "the senior transportation program" and cannot find it, because there isn't one. Each of the systems in this guide is built around a different thing (one around age, one around disability, one around who insures your parent's health care, and one around whoever in the community is willing to drive), and each has its own rules, its own paperwork, and its own idea of who it is for.

That sounds like a mess, and from the outside it is. But it resolves into a simple question you can answer trip by trip: who is the rider, and where are they going? A ride to dialysis for someone on Apple Health runs through a different door than a ride to the grocery store for a 72-year-old in Spokane who just let their license lapse. The rest of this guide walks the menu one option at a time, then lines the options up so you can match one to the trip.

The Aging Network: Older Americans Act and State-Funded Rides

Start here, because it is the widest door and the least known. The Older Americans Act requires that a protected share of each area's funding go to a set of "access services," and transportation is named among them, right alongside information and assistance and case management.1 That makes rides for older adults a funded part of the aging network rather than a favor a local agency does when it has room.

Washington layers a second funding source on top. Its aging-services agency, the Aging and Long-Term Support Administration (ALTSA), tells aging-network providers that this transportation may be paid for through Title III of the Older Americans Act and/or the state's Senior Citizens Services Act, and that for either funding source the eligibility requirement for the transportation program is being age 60 or older, according to ALTSA's transportation program guidance. (Confirm current details with your Area Agency on Aging, since the state program applies additional criteria to some other services.) These rides are designed to carry older adults to medical care, social services, meal programs, senior centers, shopping, and recreation when they have no other way to get there.

Three features make this the first call.

• There's no income test. Older Americans Act services are not means tested, and a provider may not deny a ride to an older adult who will not or cannot contribute.5 Your parent may be invited to chip in voluntarily, but savings do not disqualify them.
• The age bar is 60, not 65. The Older Americans Act defines an "older individual" as someone 60 or older,6 and ALTSA's transportation guidance uses age 60 as the threshold for both the federal and the state transportation funding source.
• It is delivered locally. Washington runs its aging network through a set of Area Agencies on Aging (also called Area Agencies on Aging and Disability) that contract with the state.4 Each one arranges the transportation that fits its community, such as a dial-a-ride van, a volunteer driver, or mileage reimbursement, so the exact form varies by county.

Because the local program has a local name, the way to find it is to ask your Area Agency on Aging directly. The statewide number, Community Living Connections at 1-855-567-0252, routes you to the agency for your parent's ZIP code.4

ADA Paratransit: King County Metro Access and Your Local Transit Agency

This is the option families most often do not know is a legal right. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, every public transit agency that runs fixed bus or rail routes must also provide complementary paratransit, a door-to-door or curb-to-curb ride, to people whose disability keeps them from using the regular fixed-route service. The service has to be comparable to the fixed-route system it shadows, cover origins and destinations within three-quarters of a mile of a route during the same days and hours the buses run, and cost no more than twice the regular fixed-route fare.2

In Seattle and King County, that service is King County Metro Access. King County Metro describes Access as how it meets its ADA obligation, running a network of accessible vans for riders whose disability prevents them from using regular buses and trains. A few Access specifics show how these programs generally work (confirm the current details with Metro):

• It shadows the bus map. Metro says Access serves areas within three-quarters of a mile of regular Metro bus lines or Link train stations, at the same times those services run, and that its service area shifts through the day to match the regular system. If your parent lives well outside the transit service area, paratransit may not reach them, and the aging-network or volunteer options matter more.
• Eligibility is about function, not age. To qualify, Metro looks at whether a rider's disability prevents them from performing the tasks needed to ride regular bus service, some or all of the time. Metro's eligibility process generally involves an application, verification from a health-care professional, and an in-person functional evaluation. Age alone does not qualify a rider, and being older does not disqualify one.
• The fare stays low. Metro sets the Access fare below the ADA ceiling of twice the regular fare, and its policy lets a personal care attendant ride along at no charge.2 Fares and rider policies change, so confirm the current amount with Metro before you rely on it.

Access is only the King County example. Every Washington transit agency that runs fixed routes, from Sound Transit's regional service to the transit authority in your parent's county, must run its own comparable paratransit with its own application. Call your local public transit agency and ask for its ADA paratransit application; if your parent qualifies, it becomes one of the most reliable and affordable standing options for local trips.

Medical Trips: Apple Health, and Why Medicare Usually Won't

When the trip is to a medical appointment, the rules change, and the single most useful thing to know is which program insures your parent.

Apple Health covers medical rides. Non-emergency medical transportation is a required part of every state's Medicaid program, and in Washington the state's Health Care Authority covers it "through transportation brokers for eligible clients to and from covered health care services."9,3 Washington does not run one statewide broker; it contracts a regional broker for each county, listed in HCA's broker directory, where you can look up the broker assigned to your parent's county. The broker arranges the ride best suited to the need, which may be a public bus pass, a taxi, a wheelchair van, a ferry ticket, or a gas voucher.3 If your parent is on Apple Health, rides to dialysis, chemotherapy, or regular doctor visits are a covered benefit.

One practical caution: book early. HCA advises contacting the broker "at least 7-14 days before" the appointment, and warns that a request made "less than two business days before your appointment" may not be schedulable.3 If your parent is in an Apple Health managed-care plan, their plan may coordinate transportation directly, so it is worth asking the plan as well as the county broker.

Original Medicare, by contrast, does not pay for routine rides. Traditional Medicare does not cover ordinary non-emergency transportation to and from routine appointments; Part B pays for an ambulance only when it is medically necessary and other transport could endanger the patient.7 That surprises families, and it is the source of a lot of unexpected bills. If your parent has a Medicare Advantage plan rather than Original Medicare, check the plan, because some Advantage plans add a limited transportation benefit, but it is a plan feature, not something Medicare itself guarantees.

The Volunteer and Private Layer in Washington

Underneath the funded programs is a patchwork that often does the everyday work of getting an older adult to a hair appointment, a place of worship, or a friend's house.

• Volunteer driver programs. Several Washington nonprofits run programs where screened volunteers drive older neighbors. Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, for example, operates a Southwest Volunteer Transportation program in Pierce County that offers door-through-door rides to medical, dental, grocery, and errand destinations for lower-income older adults and adults with disabilities. Availability and any income limits vary by county, so ask your Area Agency on Aging what operates locally.
• Community shuttles and coordinated vans. In several King County cities, Hopelink coordinates Community Vans in partnership with King County Metro, driven by Metro-approved volunteer drivers, for local trips when regular bus service does not meet a rider's needs. Some senior centers, retirement communities, and medical facilities run their own shuttles on set routes and days.
• Ride-share and concierge services. App-based ride services, and phone-based concierge services built for people who do not use smartphones, can fill in for spontaneous trips. These are private and paid out of pocket, and quality and coverage vary, but for a parent who can still transfer in and out of a car independently they can be the simplest option for an unplanned trip.

None of this layer is an entitlement, and it is the part that varies most from one Washington town to the next, which is exactly why the Area Agency on Aging, reachable statewide through Community Living Connections, is the efficient place to ask, since its job is to know the local map.4,8

Which Senior Transportation Option in Washington Fits the Trip

The menu resolves into a matching problem. Line the options up against who the rider is, what the trip is for, and what it costs, and the right door usually picks itself.

Read it as a decision, not a ranking. An Apple Health member going to dialysis starts with the county transportation broker. A 68-year-old in Tacoma who just stopped driving and wants to keep getting to the grocery store and church starts with the Area Agency on Aging and, if a disability keeps them off the bus, a paratransit application to their transit agency. Most families end up using more than one, one door for medical trips and another for everything else.

How to Start: One Phone Call

For everything except the Apple Health medical benefit, the same first call does the sorting. Dial Community Living Connections at 1-855-567-0252, Washington's statewide entry point to the Area Agency on Aging that serves your parent's address.4 You can also use the national Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116, which routes to the same local agency.8 Look it up by the address where your parent lives, not where you live, because the agency is defined by their location.

When you reach the agency, name the actual trips: "My father is 74, no longer drives, and needs to get to a cardiologist twice a month and to the grocery store weekly." A specific request gets a specific answer, which local programs exist, whether he would qualify for paratransit, and what each one costs. If your parent is on Apple Health, also contact their county transportation broker (or their managed-care plan) for medical rides, since that benefit runs on a separate track.3

Learn More

Find personalized help arranging transportation for an older adult in Washington who no longer drives at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.