The journey began nearly a year ago and led to a community survey to assess the level of interest among senior citizens for a borough-sponsored transportation service.

Now, after meeting upon meeting where various options were discussed, fine-tuned but ultimately discarded, Franklin Park council has reached a consensus on the best way to go.

Scrap talk of a van, taxi reimbursements and an all-volunteer corps. Instead, let Allegheny County ACCESS stay at the steering wheel.

"Certainly, if we can fill a need without spending tax dollars, we're all for that," council President Martha Creese said.

"We certainly have a common goal to help residents who need extra help," she said, but not if it duplicated existing services such as those at ACCESS.

At a one-topic-only hearing April 23, about 20 residents seemed pleasantly surprised at the range of services ACCESS already offered as outlined by Holly Dick, the paratransit system community liaison.

As a testimonial, Ms. Dick, who's legally blind, got to Franklin Park from Oakland thanks to ACCESS.

Typical of comments that council heard were those of Barbara Brock, who said, "I had no idea that ACCESS provided such extensive services." Ms. Brock said she had thought of ACCESS as only a van service for handicapped people.

Instead, Ms. Dick outlined a menu of services that included the handicapped-lift vans, plus free or deep-discounted rides for those on Medicaid or those requiring only occasional trips.

Unbeknownst to Ms. Brock and others was 65 Plus, the most popular service with the fewest restrictions.

Ms. Dick said 65 Plus is what anybody 65 and older can use to go pretty much anywhere as often as they want -- the beauty salon, the grocery store, even bingo or the neighborhood bar.

If demand is high enough, she said, ACCESS can arrange community shuttle services such as those it runs in Dormont, Mt. Lebanon and Penn Hills.

"I think it's regarded as some of the best transportation in the country. We have some excellent services and we're fortunate to have them," she said, attributing much of the funding to state lottery subsidies.

While seniors elsewhere have complained occasionally about ACCESS service delays and no-shows, the prevailing sentiment among Franklin Park seniors was "try it; we might like it."

The trick, council members agreed, was to spread the word about what's already available as opposed to the borough getting into the transportation business.

One of the difficulties council has wrestled with is trying to figure out how accurate a predictor the survey results were of actual interest.

For example, 45 households responded that they would use the service but in response to another question, more than twice that number said they would use the service on a Monday, Tuesday and so on.

Borough Manager Ambrose Rocca acknowledged that the survey was not intended to be statistically accurate.

Resident Marylyn Senik worried that the borough would find itself in a hole financially if it decided to subsidize a van service, as once proposed by Councilman Ash Marwah.

"I don't think we should be in the transportation business," Ms. Senik said to a round of applause, noting that such a service could become a gas-guzzling drain to borough taxpayers.

"Have you heard, 'If we build it, they will come?' Do you not think that your passenger list wouldn't increase?"

"Are we creating an entitlement program, and is it legal," she wondered, "taking money from this group to give it to this special group?"

"It's good that you're looking into it, but I don't think it's fair, viable or appropriate. I just don't think it's something we need," Ms. Senik said.

Even Mr. Marwah reconsidered his stand, given the presentation of ACCESS and the remarks made by residents.

"I find their proposal even better," he said, "better than what we could do on our own. It will service the handicapped, which was very difficult for us to handle."

Resident Robert Galbreath said he'd look into ACCESS, but he hoped that the borough could lend a hand if only by acting as a central clearinghouse.

Suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, he told council of the difficulties he has getting to the local YMCA or the dry cleaners.

"Ten years ago, I had to quit driving at night, and three years ago, I had to quit driving, period. And that had an interesting impact on my retirement. It's become a challenging aspect of my life."

"I understand very well there's two sides of the story. I'm only speaking as one guy who could use some help sometimes," he said.

Councilwoman Amy Sable, who had urged council to schedule the meeting so that it could hear first-hand from seniors, said she went online to find out what was available at www.pittsburghseniornews.com. She urged seniors to do the same.

What she found was a 2008 Senior Resource Guide that included a program-by-program summary with details of how to register and arrange rides, ticket prices and eligibility.

"It sounds like ACCESS offers everything we've been looking for," Ms. Sable said. "The information is out there, so we just need to be aware that we need to do a better job of making people know that it is available."