The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) provides public transit services across 30 communities in southeastern Massachusetts, including ADA paratransit, senior dial-a-ride, microtransit, and non-emergency medical transportation.

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As a mid-sized regional agency handling around 950 trips daily, GATRA’s lean eligibility team, just two full-time staff and one part-time time staff member - needed a smarter, faster way to manage rider applications and ensure consistent service across multiple towns.

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The shift to digital

In January 2024, GATRA modernized its eligibility process by implementing Spare Eligibility, moving away from paper-based applications and manual notifications.
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The new digital workflow unified application management and rider communication across all service areas, bringing long-awaited efficiency and visibility to the team’s operations.

With Spare, GATRA can now:

• Accept and process applications online, eliminating the need for paper forms
  
• Automate rider notifications for approvals, denials, and renewals
  
• Generate customized letters based on each town’s contact information
  
• Digitally store verification documents and track eligibility status in one system
  
  

Driving the Change

Before adopting Spare Eligibility, GATRA’s eligibility process was entirely manual, dependent on paperwork, phone calls, and in-person follow-ups. 

With around 45 new applications each week, staff were spending too much time on administrative tasks, leaving little room for proactive rider support. 

Previously, applications were entirely paper-based: each one would be received, assigned a paper cover sheet, scanned into SharePoint, and faxed to the operator to be manually entered into their system. With so many people handling each application, errors were common and processing was slow. GATRA wanted to make a change.

By moving to Spare, GATRA aimed to:

• Reduce processing time for applications
  
• Simplify communication with riders
  
• Standardize workflows across multiple towns
  
• Give staff more capacity to focus on improving service quality
• Provide staff the ability to access applications anywhere digitally and securely
  
  

Impact and Results

Since implementing Spare Eligibility, GATRA has realized measurable improvements in efficiency, transparency, and rider satisfaction. Adopting the tool has improved record organization by keeping everything in one place instead of scattered across emails, SharePoint, Access databases, and other locations.

The system enables GATRA staff to process applications more efficiently and register people quicker, particularly for senior dial-a-ride where staff can now complete 90% of an application with the caller in just a few minutes.

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Operational Efficiency

• Around 21% of senior applications are now submitted online
  
• More than 100 riders have applied digitally since launching digital applications in June 2025
• By centralizing data in one easily accessible location, the team has cut reporting time dramatically - freeing up capacity for higher-impact work.
• Automated workflows have streamlined internal communication and reduced manual follow-up
  
• Staff can now manage more applications with the same lean team
  
• Reduced administrative workload by automating rider setup through integration with Spare Operations
  
• The ADA application process has been significantly accelerated, with determinations typically made well before the 21-day deadline, improving service delivery times for riders with disabilities.

Better Rider Experience

• The new online application process is more accessible and intuitive
  
• Riders receive real-time automated updates on application status and renewal deadlines
  
• Proactive notifications ensure continuous eligibility and prevent service gaps
• Rides have found it especially valuable to allow people to apply on behalf of others, with one or two individuals regularly setting up profiles for seniors in the DAR program - making the system more inclusive for those needing extra support.
• Staff can now take information over the phone as a regular practice, providing a better rider experience by helping applicants immediately versus asking them to mail paper applications.
• Applicants are registered much faster - submissions are received and processed instantly, with digital notifications ensuring people can begin on schedule, often the same day.
  
  

As the team put it, riders are “loving the notifications”—a reflection of how automation and transparency can improve trust and satisfaction.

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Conclusion

By replacing manual workflows with automation and improving communication between the agency and its riders, GATRA has created a faster, more transparent, and more rider-friendly eligibility process.

The partnership between GATRA and Spare shows what’s possible when innovation meets local impact—a model for how mid-sized transit agencies can modernize without sacrificing personal service.

GATRA’s move to Spare Eligibility demonstrates how digital transformation can empower even small teams to achieve big results.

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