North Dakota Highly Rural Transportation for Veterans
Free rides to VA-authorized medical appointments for veterans in North Dakota’s highly rural counties, which is most of them. Availability varies by county and the route in is the local service office.
Also called: transportation, Highly Rural Transportation Grant, HRTG, free rides, medical appointment, rural, Fargo VA.
The Highly Rural Transportation Grant is a federal VA grant awarded to the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs since October 2015, and the Department uses it to provide free transportation to VA-authorized medical appointments for veterans living in highly rural counties. The federal test for a highly rural county is fewer than seven people per square mile, which in North Dakota catches the great majority of the state.
The reason this belongs in a state catalog rather than being left as a federal program is the geography it exists to answer. A veteran in Bowman or Divide County is several hours from the VA medical centre at Fargo. The program is the difference between attending an authorized appointment and not.
Roughly forty of North Dakota's fifty-three counties are marked by the Department as having free rides available through the grant, along with tribal areas including Standing Rock. The counties that are not marked are the populated ones, Cass, Burleigh, Grand Forks, Ward, Morton, Stark, Stutsman, Richland, Traill, Walsh, Williams, Ramsey, Rolette, Mercer and Barnes, where other transit options exist and where the Department points veterans at the North Dakota Department of Transportation's transit provider map instead.
The Department is explicit that availability varies. This is a grant-funded service delivered county by county through local providers, not an entitlement to a ride, and the honest advice is to ring the local veterans service office well before the appointment rather than on the day.
The route in is the county or tribal veterans service officer. There is no separate application to Bismarck.
A veteran who is not in a covered county still has the federal options: the VA Beneficiary Travel program, which reimburses mileage for eligible veterans travelling to VA care, and the Disabled American Veterans transportation network which runs volunteer drivers to VA facilities. Neither is a North Dakota program and both have their own eligibility rules.
Thresholds
Thresholds for North Dakota Highly Rural Transportation for Veterans
Gate
Rule
A highly rural county, and a VA-authorized appointment
The grant funds transportation to VA-authorized medical appointments for veterans of highly rural counties. Roughly forty of North Dakota’s fifty-three counties and several tribal areas are covered; the populated counties are not.
Availability varies and is not an entitlement
The Department states that availability varies by county. This is a grant-funded service delivered through local providers rather than a guaranteed ride, and arrangements should be made through the county or tribal veterans service office well ahead of the appointment.
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.