Butler County MATP: BART Shared Ride, the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, and Where Ride Companies Fit

Butler County does not split MATP between a county office and a pool of ride companies. It hands the whole program to one Butler nonprofit, the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources (ANR), which also runs the county’s shared ride vans under the name BART. Riders, bookings, dispatch, and drivers all sit with ANR, so the questions for a ride company are what ANR buys from others and which trips BART leaves open.

Who runs MATP in Butler County

Counties, their vendors, or transit agencies run MATP everywhere in Pennsylvania except Philadelphia, which uses a broker. The Pennsylvania guide explains that setup and the Public Utility Commission authority you need.

The June 25, 2026 state study counts Butler among 38 “county vendor” programs. In that model a vendor, usually a transit agency, handles both the rides and the paperwork, and the county only oversees it. In Butler the vendor is not a transit authority but a nonprofit: ANR describes Butler County MATP as its own service, run with the state Department of Human Services and the Butler County Commissioners.

Three agreements hold it together:

Agreement	Parties	Latest action
MATP grant agreement	Butler County and the state DHS	Approved August 26, 2026 for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027
Shared ride professional service agreement	Butler County, through its Area Agency on Aging, and ANR	Approved August 26, 2026 for fiscal 2026-27, paid from the Aging Block Grant with no county funds
Human services contract amendment	Butler County and ANR	January 28, 2026: a $330,000 cost settlement for fiscal 2025-26 shared ride losses, pending PennDOT funding

BART’s own Title VI program calls it a county program and ANR the county’s contracted transit provider and lessee. The county’s human services director checks ANR’s civil rights compliance, and the county last approved and visited its contractor on October 22, 2025. On July 8, 2026, the commissioners hired an audit firm to review the Transportation Program for the years ending June 30, 2026 through 2028, at $6,800 to $7,500 a year.

ANR, BART, and the numbers

ANR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 2008, based at 115 South Main Street in Butler. Its transport division began in April 2008 managing transportation programs, and it holds PUC operating authority for every county in Pennsylvania. It follows the federal transit drug and alcohol rules, and its drivers are trained in mental health first aid, CPR and first aid, bloodborne pathogens, wheelchair securement, and defensive driving.

BART runs out of 130 Hollywood Drive, Suite 102, in a building it shares with the Butler Transit Authority, which runs the fixed route buses and is a separate organization. PennDOT’s report for fiscal 2024-25 gives BART’s shared ride figures:

BART shared ride, fiscal 2024-25	Figure
Trips by riders 65 and older	9,561
Trips by persons with disabilities	2,612
Other shared-ride trips	13,109
Total shared-ride trips	25,282
Vehicles in peak service	13
Average cost per trip	$29.96
Average fare	$21.50
Operating expenses	$768,000

PennDOT’s profile shows no separate MATP line for BART. For scale, Freedom Transit in Washington County, south of Pittsburgh, carried 172,250 shared-ride trips that year.

How MATP rides work in Butler County

Butler County residents of any age qualify when they hold a valid Pennsylvania Medical Assistance card and need a ride to a provider that takes it. They register at 1-866-638-0598, and DHS rules require their eligibility to be verified within 30 days. Riders who drive themselves get the state mileage rate plus parking and turnpike tolls.

The rules ANR posts for MATP and BART riders, as of September 2026:

• Booking. The MATP call center answers Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. BART books trips up to two weeks ahead.
• Dispatch. MATP rides run Monday to Friday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 5 to 9 a.m., with times that vary by demand.
• Pickup time. Riders get a call with their pickup time the day before and must be ready when the van arrives.
• Service level. BART is curb to curb and shared. MATP must still give door-to-door service when a rider needs it for medical reasons.
• Out-of-county trips. Specialty appointments outside the county must fall between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.
• Escorts and children. Adult escorts ride free with approval at booking. A parent or guardian rides free with a child under 18.
• Cancellations. Riders cancel at least one hour before pickup, and frequent no-shows can cost them their riding privileges.

BART is closed on seven holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Where an outside ride company fits in Butler County

ANR holds the county’s MATP, shared ride, and recovery transportation work, and runs it with its own staff. With no carrier panel to join, the openings are narrower than in a county that spreads trips across several companies:

1. Hold PUC paratransit authority. Any paid ride that starts and ends in Pennsylvania needs it, as the state guide explains.
2. Ask ANR what it buys. Call ANR at 724-431-3663 and ask whether it takes subcontractors for overflow, Saturday afternoons, evenings, or out-of-county runs. Get any deal in writing, as our guide to subcontracting NEMT trips explains.
3. Watch the commissioners’ agendas. On August 26, 2026, the commissioners approved the MATP grant agreement and ANR’s shared ride agreements for fiscal 2026-27, two weeks after ANR’s recovery transportation contract. Those late-summer meetings show when the work renews.
4. Price against the county’s own rate. On August 12, 2026, the commissioners approved ANR’s recovery transportation contract for fiscal 2026-27 at $27.50 a trip for the first 10 miles and $2.25 a mile after, up to $35,000. It is a county-approved price for rides to treatment and appointments, and a useful reference when you quote.
5. Serve the trips BART does not run. Out-of-county specialty visits on Mondays and Fridays, rides after dispatch closes, and stretcher trips all fall outside BART. MATP does not pay for stretcher service, so those go to the rider’s health plan, such as UPMC for You, or to private pay.

Butler borders Allegheny County, where MATP runs a different model, with door-to-door trips spread across four ACCESS carriers. A company based near the county line can pursue both.