Westmoreland County Medical Assistance Transportation Program: GO Westmoreland and Where Ride Companies Fit

Westmoreland County puts its Medical Assistance riders on the same shared ride vans that carry its seniors, and the county transit authority drives those vans itself. GO Westmoreland, the shared ride side of the Westmoreland County Transit Authority (WCTA), screens each rider, books the trip, and sends one of its own drivers. MATP is the biggest single program on those vans, so GO decides how most Medicaid rides move in the county.

Who runs the Westmoreland County Medical Assistance Transportation Program

Pennsylvania runs MATP county by county and uses a broker only in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania guide covers the state rules, Public Utility Commission (PUC) authority, and insurance.

The county commissioners formed WCTA in 1978 to combine bus service that several private companies had been running across the county. Its office and transit center have been at 41 Bell Way in Greensburg since 1992. A seven-member board governs it, and the commissioners fill the seats: in March 2026 they reappointed two directors to terms ending January 5, 2031, and in June they appointed a third to an unexpired term.

The state’s June 25, 2026 broker study lists Westmoreland as a county vendor program. WCTA handles both the rides and the paperwork, the county oversees it, and the county cannot claim MATP administrative costs. The money still passes through the commissioners. On February 12, 2026 they unanimously approved WCTA’s updated MATP allocation of $3,910,993 for fiscal 2025-26 and its final allocation of $2,729,920 for fiscal 2024-25.

GO Westmoreland drives its own vans

WCTA owns and operates its fleet, and its May 2024 transit development plan places shared ride operations and maintenance at 203 Avenue B in Youngwood. Its website lists 56 shared ride vehicles it owns: 25 Ford E-350 small buses, 16 Ford Senator II cutaways, 9 Ford Champion Challengers, and 6 Chevy Champion Challengers. In September 2026 it was hiring paratransit drivers for Youngwood, with a sign-on bonus and no commercial license required.

PennDOT’s fiscal 2024-25 report counts 139 full-time and 13 part-time WCTA employees and no contractor staff. Its profile of GO Westmoreland for that year:

GO Westmoreland shared ride, fiscal 2024-25	Trips
MATP	80,974
Riders 65 and older	59,805
ADA complementary paratransit	17,471
Persons with disabilities	13,836
Other	579
Total	172,665

MATP made up about 47% of the trips, more than any other program. The average fare was $28.16 and the average cost $40.54 a trip, with 47 vehicles out at peak.

How MATP trips run on GO Westmoreland

GO must give each rider the least costly mode that fits: bus tickets for riders near a fixed route, mileage reimbursement at 25 cents a mile plus receipted parking and tolls, or a shared ride. The rules it posts, as of September 2026:

• Hours. Rides run weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nothing runs on Sundays or on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.
• Service area. All of Westmoreland County plus a 5-mile buffer around it. GO will not carry trips under a quarter mile.
• Pittsburgh. Only on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, arriving at 9 a.m. and leaving between 2 and 3 p.m. Riders are grouped, and a trip that cannot be grouped may be cancelled.
• Booking. Up to two weeks ahead, and by noon one business day before. Saturday and Monday trips are due by noon Friday. Registered riders can also book online.
• Pickup. A 30-minute pickup window, 15 minutes either side, and the driver waits 5 minutes after arriving in it. Drop-off is no more than an hour before the appointment.
• No-shows. Riders cancel at least an hour before pickup. After three no-shows in 12 months, GO may cancel a rider’s routine rides and take bookings only the day before.
• Urgent care. GO needs written verification from the medical provider and arranges the ride within 3 hours in business hours. After 4 p.m. calls go to a voice mailbox and staff call back.
• Mileage forms. Due within 30 calendar days, signed by the medical provider, and paid within four weeks.

When GO cannot meet a rider’s need, it gives a written referral to the County Assistance Office, which can then process a Special Medical Transportation Allowance.

New shared ride fares from October 1, 2026

The WCTA board approved a new shared ride fare structure on August 20, 2026, after PennDOT reviewed and accepted it. It is the first increase since September 1, 2018, and averages 24.7% across the structure. MATP riders still pay nothing. The full general public fare becomes:

Trip length	General public fare
Under 2 miles	$21
2 to under 5 miles	$24
5 to under 10 miles	$34
10 to under 15 miles	$47
15 to under 20 miles	$57
20 miles or more	$75

WCTA says that without the increase it could have had to offer fewer Pittsburgh trips, drop the 5-mile buffer, and hold shared ride more strictly to the county. Those fares are what a Westmoreland rider with no program pays GO, so they are a fair reference when you quote private pay trips.

Where a ride company fits in Westmoreland County

With WCTA driving its own trips, there is no carrier panel to join. The openings are these:

1. Get PUC authority first. Any paid trip that starts and ends in Pennsylvania needs it. The state guide lists the steps and the $350 fee.
2. Ask WCTA what it buys. Call its Greensburg office at 724-832-2712 and ask whether it ever takes outside carriers for overflow, evening, or Pittsburgh trips. Get any deal in writing, as our guide to subcontracting NEMT trips explains.
3. Cover the hours GO does not run. Sundays, the six holidays, weekday trips after 7 p.m., Saturday trips after 4 p.m., and Pittsburgh visits on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays all fall outside the shared ride. So do trips past the 5-mile buffer other than the Pittsburgh runs.
4. Take the trips MATP leaves out. Stretcher rides go to the rider’s HealthChoices plan. Westmoreland is in the Southwest zone, where members choose AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania, Geisinger, Jefferson Health Plans EverWell, Highmark Wholecare, or UPMC for You. UPMC for You’s manual, updated December 31, 2025, routes its members’ medically necessary wheelchair van and ambulance trips through UPMC Medical Transportation at 1-877-521-7433. See UPMC for You.
5. Look at aging contracts. On June 25, 2026 the commissioners approved an $85,000 Area Agency on Aging agreement with WCTA for priority transportation from July 2026 to June 2027. Our guide to Area Agency on Aging contracts explains how that work is bought.

Neighboring counties buy rides differently. Allegheny County books MATP onto ACCESS and its four carriers, Freedom Transit in Washington County pays private contractors to drive its vans, and in Fayette County the county itself is the MATP provider.