The Chenango County Board of Supervisors approved nearly $1 million in state aid to help the First Transit busing company as it adapts to a state-run Medicaid transportation system. ( Photo by Shawn Magrath) 


NORWICH – Nearly $1 million is being funneled through Chenango County to offset rising costs of Medicaid transportation, an area that’s badly needed annual taxpayer assistance due to changes the state implemented for the non-emergency Medicaid transit system nearly ten years ago.

The Chenango County Board of Supervisors moved to accept $970,500 at their June meeting. Funds come by way of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and will be set aside for the purpose of assisting with non-emergency transportation of Medicaid patients.

Money will be allotted to the private busing company First Transit, Chenango County’s premier mass transit company. First Transit holds a public-private partnership with the county, where the county owns First Transit buses but operational expenses are footed by the company.

A mix of federal and state funding makes its way to First Transit every year to help the company as it adapts to a state-run Medicaid transportation setup. In 2013, the state bore non-emergency Medicaid transportation, resulting in a significant dent to the bottom line of private rural companies like First Transit who saw their numbers drop.

The state’s take-over of non-emergency Medicaid transportation created such a loss for First Transit by 2014 that the company broached the idea of abandoning local operations.

Rural transportation funding, administered by the state and the Federal Transit Administration, was established to bolster public-private partnerships between local governments and the businesses that serve them. In Chenango County, First Transit is the sole beneficiary of these funds.

The county owns the 20-plus buses that make up First Transit’s local fleet and replaces worn buses routinely. In 2018, county officials landed $882,000 in state and federal aid for replacement of more than a half-dozen buses. Another $1.6 million was awarded through the federal CARES Act for bus replacement and to offset additional losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 ($1.2 million of which the company projected to use by the end of that year). And last year, the county received $980,000 for the purchase of seven new buses to be added to First Transit’s fleet.