Fayette County seniors who use transportation provided by Fayette Senior Services could see that service reduced under a new state plan, says FSS director Andy Carden.

Under its Unified Transportation Program, the state Department of Human Resources is pushing for regional providers to offer 24 hour a day, seven day a week service, Carden reported to the FSS Board of Directors last week.

Since the vans currently used to provide service to seniors in Fayette belong to the state, FSS may lose some of those vans to the provider that wins the service in a bidding process, he added.

Much of the money for the vans is provided through private donations, but in order to take advantage of lower government insurance premiums, the vans are registered under state ownership, said Carden.

FSS currently provides fairly personalized pick-up and delivery to seniors within the county, for shopping, doctors' visits and other purposes.

"We go out and pick up your mother and take her to the doctor, and take her back home," said Carden.

A regional provider will cover fixed routes at fixed times, and with its fleet of vans reduced, FSS won't be able to continue its local, more personalized pick-ups, said Carden.

"If we can't keep the vans, then we don't have the vans to go out and pick up," he said, adding that FSS probably will have enough vans left to run fixed routes to the local senior centers after the chosen transportation provider takes its pick of the fleet, but not enough for more personal service.

FSS past president Joan Neal said the impending change is causing a stir. "The private donors [who helped buy the vans] are furious about them taking away the vans when they had put in so much money," she said.