Last week, Lawrence Transit delivered 30 bus-ready grocery carts to Just Food. This is part of a LiveWell Community Wellness Grant through the Douglas County Community Foundation received in late 2021, focused on removing barriers to food access.

“As a transit agency, it’s important for us to do what we can to make every trip as easy and accessible as possible,” said Felice Lavergne, Transit Planner II. “These carts are one part of a larger effort to make important trips easier.”

In February 2021, Lawrence Transit changed its cart policy to be responsive to rider needs by allowing personal carts or strollers to be used on board without being stowed, so long as they can be moved for accessibility reasons.

Lawrence Transit also recently received funding from KDOT through their Access Innovation and Collaboration grant for 20 cart-friendly flip-seat retrofits that would advance our equity goals by making the bus more practical to use for grocery shopping with a cart.

Between these two grants, Lawrence Transit has received $35,000 in grant funding to improve food access on buses.

“We’re so lucky to have great organizations like Douglas County Community Foundation, LiveWell Douglas County, and Just Food that are dedicated to improving food access in Lawrence,” Lavergne said.

Find Lawrence Transit on Facebook: @LawrenceTransit and on Twitter: @TransitLawrence.

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