(Chelsea Update would like to thank Trinh Pifer for the information in this story.)
Chelsea residents can now get a free ride to the Washington Street Education Center (WSEC) seven days per week on WAVE’s Chelsea Community Ride (CCR) free shuttle service.
Chelsea’s community transportation program, the Western-Washtenaw Area Value Express (WAVE), has provided free shuttle service on their CCR route since 2010. Adding a new stop on the WSEC campus will now help travelers of all ages access services available on the WESC campus, which includes the Chelsea Senior Center, on-site preschools, summer camps, and driver’s education classes.
The WSEC, also known as the “Old High School”, is an active hub of programs and services throughout the year for all age groups.
According to Andrew Thomson, adult/youth enrichment coordinator for the Chelsea School District Community Education, “This new stop can be really beneficial for families who might need a ride for their kids to WSEC for driver’s education classes or for all the great summer camps we offer through Community Education. If parents living in town have a way to get their children safely to this campus, especially across M-52, it could really provide peace of mind.”
The CCR’s main route travels through Chelsea’s business district six times per day. Adding the WSEC bus stop expands free shuttle connections in addition to other popular after school and summer destinations for tweens and teens, such as the Chelsea Library.
The Chelsea Senior Center and WAVE have a long history of partnering to address senior transportation needs throughout the Chelsea School District. Adding a stop at the senior center on the free route will connect the Chelsea Retirement Community, The Pines, downtown residences and those along the route to the senior center.
For those seniors unable to drive anymore, this means that they will now have opportunities to get a free ride to the senior center to enjoy the senior lunch program and many other activities.
Ride the WAVE Event
On June 23, the senior center and WAVE are partnering to host a “Ride the WAVE” event. Seniors can enjoy a special lunch, games, goodie bags, free coupons to the Chelsea Farmers Markets, and a chance to win WAVE sponsored door prizes if they take the Chelsea Community Ride bus to the senior center on that day.
Please call the senior center at 734-475-9242 to register for lunch, which is a $3 suggested donation for seniors ages 60+.
For more information about the programs and services offered at the Chelsea Senior Center, visit www.chelseaseniors.org.
“WAVE’s free shuttle program is unique and a model program in the State of Michigan. No other community hosts daily free bus service through town as the Chelsea Community Ride offers. WAVE is pleased to have the support of local partners to make this a successful service,” says WAVE’s Executive Director, Michaelene Pawlak in a press release.
In 2016, the Chelsea Community Ride provided 9154 free rides to residents, 90 percent of whom were senior citizens.
WAVE celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2016 and recently moved its offices to Jackson Road.
In addition to the Chelsea Community Ride’s free service, WAVE offers a variety of affordable transportation programs including local door-to-door reserved ride services in Chelsea and Dexter, long distance reserved ride services throughout the county, an interurban express route which connects Chelsea to Dexter and Ann Arbor, and group trips.
All WAVE buses are wheelchair accessible. Call 734-475-9494 for more information about WAVE. transportation services or visit www.RideTheWaveBus.org for printable ride schedules and maps.
WSEC is the second high school…the actual old high faced Harrison Street. The last class to graduated from that high school was the class of 1958.