Residents of about 7% — or 892 — Alpena County households have to walk, ride a bike, get a ride, or use public transportation to travel somewhere.

In the surrounding communities, nearly 4% of households in Alcona County, 6% of households in Montmorency County, and 4% of households in Presque Isle County do not own a vehicle.

While that’s better than the 8% of households statewide, it still disadvantages hundreds of area residents, especially with public transportation options scaled back during the coronavirus pandemic and already limited service outside of the immediate Alpena area.

Of those households without a vehicle, 370 also live at least a half-mile away from a supermarket, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Neil Phillip rides a Dial-A-Ride last month in Alpena.

Andrew Schultz, who said he doesn’t own a vehicle, uses Dial-A-Ride four to five times a week to get to appointments, go grocery shopping, and to conduct other business around town.

“The only other kind of transportation that I have is by bicycle or walking, and, sometimes, walking, as far as time management, isn’t feasible” he said.

Dial-A-Ride provides around 6,000 rides each month to residents of Alpena, Alcona, and Montmorency counties, estimated Angie Dubie, interim general manager at the Thunder Bay Transportation Authority, which operates the service.

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“It increases the mobility of people who don’t have access to transportation,” she said. “If they didn’t have public transportation, they wouldn’t be able to get there.”

Residents of Alpena help guarantee Dial-A-Ride service in the city through a 1-mill property tax — about $50 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house.

However, Dubie said, the authority struggles to provide a cost-effective service in Alcona and Montmorency counties because the agency doesn’t have a bus in those areas all the time. Officials have pursued grants that would establish a regular route in those counties, she said.

Dubie said ridership decreased during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last year, when the government told people to stay home to avoid spreading the virus. The Transportation Authority had to reduce its weekday hours and eliminate its weekend service.

Dubie said ridership has increased after government restrictions ended, and the Transportation Authority has returned to its normal weekday hours.

But she doesn’t think the regular weekend service will return because of low ridership, but the authority has extended its hours so people can take Dial-A-Ride to and from weekend concerts at Bay View Park.

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Other than Dial-A-Ride, Northeast Michiganders have few transportation options.

American Taxi Cab is currently operating in Alpena.

However, callers to a second company, Alpena Cab Co., hear a message saying the business closed April 24 because of staffing shortages, but would reopen as soon as possible.