Volunteer drivers will be jostling for position for a chance to get behind the wheel of the brand new Wairarapa Community Transport Service vehicle, which was delivered to Masterton Red Cross HQ yesterday.
The free service, run by the Red Cross and staffed by volunteers, began four years ago after Wairarapa
DHB portfolio manager Joanne Edwards identified problems transporting people between medical centres around Wairarapa and Wellington.
Rick Long (who is now chairman of the service) and DHB chairman Bob Francis then got together to look into a Wairarapa service and Mr Long went to Levin to look at a similar service run there between Levin and Palmerston North.
In Levin he spoke to volunteer drivers (many of them retired truckies) who were "queuing up" to contribute their skills to the service.
Mr Long said he suspected the same level of enthusiasm from volunteers in Wairarapa but was worried that perhaps some drivers would baulk at the idea of frequent trips over the Rimutaka Hill.
However, that hasn't been the case; "We've got loads of volunteers and they all love it," Mr Long said.
Both the service's old vans (which like the new, are fitted with donation boxes) have clocked up more than 100,000k each and are due for retirement.
The new $38,000 eight-seater Kia Carnival minivan will be followed by another new vehicle in 2010, completing replacement of the aged fleet.
The Kia will also be fitted with dual automatic slide access steps and a hands-free mobile phone - the other replacement vehicle will feature a wheelchair hoist when it is rolled out next year.
The flash new transporter was made possible by a $15,000 grant from Trust House, $5,000 apiece from the Prime Community Trust and the Pelorus Trust - the Greater Wellington Regional Council will fund a subsidy for each passenger while the DHB will chip in for monthly running costs.
