JAUNT was started when several human service agencies
realized that it would be much more efficient and
cost-effective for them to have their clients share
rides. After a successful year of providing routes
for agency clients, JAUNT received its first federal
grant to help them make the service affordable for
the general public as well. Within a few short years,
there was a fleet of fifteen vans, including the
first lift-equipped vehicle, and JAUNT was operating
as a 501(c)3 not for profit organization.
Over the years, JAUNT has grown, and added additional
programs, such as RideShare, commuter routes to
Charlottesville and Wintergreen, intra-county routes
in each rural county, and night and weekend service
for people with disabilities in Charlottesville
and Albemarle. In 1982, JAUNT became a public corporation
owned by five local governments.
JAUNT is currently located in its own facility in
southeastern Charlottesville, with a four-bay garage,
a state-of-the-art computer scheduling system, and
a fleet of seventy vehicles equipped with on-board
computers.
JAUNT's award-winning system earned the Virginia
Transit Association's Outstanding Public Transportation
System Award for Non-Urbanized Areas and the National
Community Transportation System of the Year award
from the Community Transit Association of America.
JAUNT's system of combining resources to serve as
many people as possible has been a model for transit
services across the country.
