By Alex Cummings
With its new digs, the Rockbridge Area Transportation System is on the fast track to the local nonprofit “big leagues,” says Executive Director Betty LaRock. RATS, as it is known, moved from a two-room office on McDowell Street in Lexington to a large city-owned building on North Main Street that previously housed the Boys and Girls Club, the Free Clinic and a food pantry. The group provides mostly elderly and handicapped citizens with trips to doctors’ appointments, cancer treatments and even Wal-Mart. Last year it provided 17,000 trips, covering 380,000 miles for nearly 700 people. LaRock says the organization’s main challenge is the miles RATS vehicles rack up transporting people to medical appointments outside of the county.
Graphs by Alex Cummings