Bucks County MATP: How Bucks County Transport Runs Medicaid Rides and Uses Private Carriers (2027)

Bucks County Transport (BCT), a private nonprofit in Holicong, is the door to MATP work in Bucks County. It books the trips, drives with its own staff, and says it also contracts with private carriers. An outside company that wants these trips offers its vans to BCT.

Who runs MATP in Bucks County

Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP) is run county by county, and outside Philadelphia there is no broker. The Pennsylvania guide covers the Public Utility Commission license, county subcontract terms, and the statewide rules.

BCT was founded in 1986 to give paratransit rides to Bucks County residents. The state’s June 25, 2026 broker study puts Bucks among 38 “county vendor” counties, where the vendor handles both the rides and the administration and the county oversees it. BCT’s board has five members, one appointed by the county commissioners, and it meets once a quarter, per the county’s boards page.

BCT’s mailing address is P.O. Box 510, Holicong, PA 18928, and its office is at 4920 York Road, Suite 2MM, Holicong. Its lines, as of September 2026:

Line	Number	Hours
MATP reservations	1-888-795-0740 toll free, 215-794-8360 local	Weekdays 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Administration	215-794-5554	Weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Cancellations	215-794-5556	Voicemail, 24 hours a day
Risk management	215-794-5554, extension 1510	Wheelchair and mobility device approvals
Hiring	267-843-6318	Drivers and bus aides

DHS’s contact list, updated June 18, 2026, matches: call center weekdays 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., rides weekdays 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., nothing on weekends.

How BCT delivers the rides

BCT runs several county programs under one roof: Senior Shared Ride, Persons with Disabilities, an intellectual disabilities program, MATP, the Doylestown DART routes, and a courthouse shuttle. Its home page says its services are “provided either directly or through contract with private carriers on a pre-arranged basis.” That second route is where an outside company fits.

The direct side is large. BCT works from three locations, in Bristol, Buckingham, and Quakertown. As of September 2026 it recruits drivers and bus aides with no experience or commercial license needed, a $500 hiring bonus, bus and minivan routes, and no nights or weekends.

PennDOT’s report for fiscal year 2024-25 (July 2024 to June 2025) gives the scale:

• Fleet. 69 vehicles in peak service.
• Trips. 65,643 shared-ride trips: 48,312 for seniors, 16,840 under the disability program, and 491 others.
• Money. $6.51 million in operating costs, with MATP among BCT’s funding sources. The report gives no separate count of BCT’s MATP trips.
• Price. An average shared-ride fare of $32.90 against an average cost of $30.85 a trip.

Bucks County MATP rules that shape the work

BCT’s MATP page and its 2023 brochure set these rules, and a carrier driving for BCT works inside them:

1. Hours. Weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. inside the county, closed New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
2. Booking. At least two business days ahead, by 4:30 p.m., and up to six months ahead. Repeat weekly trips can go on the schedule as subscriptions. See standing orders.
3. Service areas. Rides between Upper, Central, and Lower Bucks, and to Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia counties, may be limited to certain days and times.
4. Out-of-county trips. Appointments no earlier than 10 a.m., riders ready to return by 1 p.m., and pickups between 7 and 9 a.m.
5. Pickup window. 15 minutes either side of the pickup time. Drivers wait five minutes, then mark a no-show and go to the next stop.
6. Appointments. Drop-off no more than one hour early, and pickup no later than 30 minutes after the appointment ends. The state rule allows a full hour.
7. Urgent care. BCT tries to secure a ride within three hours of a request during business hours. That promise does not cover after-hours service or hospital discharges.

DHS waived the one-hour rule for BCT’s out-of-county grouped trips in a letter of February 21, 2024, effective February 1, 2024. The waiver is reviewed yearly and depends on BCT arranging other transport for riders with verified need. See long-distance medical transport.

Wheelchairs and paratransit riders

BCT’s disability certificate, revised January 2026, says every wheelchair must work and be inspected and approved by its risk management department before a ride is scheduled. If a chair fails on the way, BCT calls the rider’s emergency contact or 911 at the rider’s expense. Every MATP rider files BCT’s application and this certificate, completed by a medical, clinical, or healthcare professional. A rider who wants paratransit instead of SEPTA needs the certificate to explain why the rider cannot use fixed-route transit. See wheelchair securement.

Riders who no-show repeatedly may have to confirm each trip on the day, book one day at a time, or take public transit and be reimbursed. A missed or cancelled pickup also cancels the return trip unless the rider asks to keep it.

What a Bucks County ride is worth

BCT posts its shared-ride fares by distance. As of September 2026, the general public fare for a one-way trip is:

Distance	General public fare
Up to 4 miles	$30.00
4.1 to 10 miles	$36.00
10.1 to 15 miles	$38.00
Over 15 miles	$60.00, subject to vehicle and driver availability

Seniors pay 15% of those fares, and MATP riders pay nothing. Across the county line, Montgomery County’s TransNet posts $37 to $75. DHS rules have counties and their contractors negotiate one all-in rate per trip, so use BCT’s table to test your own costs before you quote a price. See how much to charge for NEMT.

How to get Bucks County MATP work

1. Get PUC paratransit authority that covers Bucks County. The Pennsylvania guide has the application and the timeline.
2. Call BCT administration at 215-794-5554. Ask whether it is contracting private carriers now, for which trips, and what insurance, vehicle, and driver standards its carrier agreements set.
3. Ask about the hours BCT does not drive. Its own rides stop at 6 p.m. on weekdays and do not run on weekends, and its three-hour urgent care promise leaves out after-hours rides and hospital discharges. Ask how it covers those trips. See after-hours NEMT.
4. Offer out-of-county and wheelchair capacity. Out-of-county trips run in a narrow morning window, wheelchair riders need a chair BCT has approved, and BCT guarantees a lift vehicle only when one is required.
5. Line up your drivers’ paperwork. The statewide MATP clearances apply here, as the Pennsylvania guide explains, and see subcontracting NEMT trips for the agreement itself.
6. Keep plan and ADA work separate. Keystone First sends stretcher and ambulance trips to MTM, not MATP, and SEPTA Access runs ADA paratransit in Bucks County through its own contract carriers.

Neighboring programs work differently: Philadelphia has a broker, Montgomery uses TransNet’s carriers, and Lehigh County runs through LANTA.