Fall River senior grocery rides restart after the bus driver left; city plans to move them to the Council on Aging by Dec. 1
Under a city plan, senior medical and grocery rides would move from Veterans Services to the Council on Aging around Dec. 1. Councilors tabled the item until the veterans services director can attend.
FALL RIVER Fall River's grocery shopping trips for seniors stopped in late September after the driver of the shopping bus left unexpectedly, city officials told a City Council committee Tuesday night, Oct. 27. The trips are running again on a stopgap while the city hires a driver and a backup.
Officials also told the Committee on Health and Environmental Affairs that, under a city plan, senior rides to medical appointments and grocery stores, now booked through the Veterans Services office, would move to the Council on Aging by the end of November or starting Dec. 1. The committee tabled the item until the city's veterans services director can attend. He was invited but could not come because of an earlier commitment, Chair Michael Canuel said.
What happened to the rides
City Administrator Ann O'Neil-Souza and Health and Human Services Director Tess Curran answered for the administration, taking questions from Canuel and Councilors Linda Pereira and Christopher Peckham. For several years, the administration said, the Veterans Services office has handled senior rides to routine medical appointments and to the grocery store as well as rides for veterans. The city had five drivers: two for seniors and three who take veterans to veterans facilities in Providence and Brockton and sometimes the Dorchester and Roxbury area.
The driver of the bus used for the senior shopping trips "left us unexpectedly," the administration told the committee, and the city paused the grocery trips only. Senior and veteran rides to medical appointments never stopped, the administration said. Asked later when the grocery rides ended, the administration put it at the end of September.
The suspension notice the Council on Aging and Veterans Services posted, still on both departments' city web pages Friday, Oct. 30, says the two departments "had to temporarily suspend rides for our seniors for routine medical appointments and grocery transportation until further notice." That notice includes medical rides; the administration told councilors only the grocery trips stopped.
Canuel said he understood the grocery program was restored Oct. 16. The administration said Veterans Services Director Talos Farris drove some trips himself, and a veterans driver who was not needed for veterans rides on shopping days was moved to the senior grocery trips until the city has a permanent fix.
Drivers and vehicles
When Canuel asked whether vehicles were the trouble, the administration answered, "It was a manpower issue." Human resources is reviewing resumes, and the city wants one driver plus a vetted backup so that a sudden absence does not stop the trips again. Drivers need a criminal record (CORI) check and a review of their driving record with the Registry of Motor Vehicles; no commercial or chauffeur's license is required, and drivers use city vehicles. One applicant lost interest after learning the job is part time, and anyone interested can send a resume to the city's human resources division.
The car the Council on Aging had used, a Toyota Corolla from about 2019 that had gone to Veterans Services, was totaled in a crash, the administration said. The Department of Community Maintenance supplied a spare vehicle, which city mechanics serviced and which now carries seniors to routine medical appointments. A bus through Veterans Services carries the grocery trips on Mondays and Fridays, to stores including Aldi, Market Basket and Walmart.
While the trips were paused, the city pointed riders to the 211 help line, which arranges free rides through Lyft for people who qualify. About 18 people use the grocery trips regularly, the administration said, and the city pulled almost a year of ride records and called current riders to let them know.
Moving the rides to the Council on Aging
Asked by Pereira whether Curran's office handles any of the ride calls, the administration said they now go through the Veterans Services office but that a plan would move senior medical and grocery rides to the Council on Aging office by the end of November or starting Dec. 1. Under that plan, the Council on Aging will have its own drivers and handle its own appointment scheduling, and Veterans Services will keep a separate driver. A hybrid arrangement between the two departments years ago "led to some complications," the administration said.
Pereira objected to the plan, telling the administration, "That was an abysmal failure before. That's why it all went under one." She added that the service worked better with every call coming through one office. She said a former veterans driver who had been out on medical leave came back with a doctor's note, ready to work, and was offered only part-time hours after the city hired someone else, and she urged the city to bring him back. The administration answered that Pereira's mention of him the day before was the first it had heard of it and that it would look into it.
Pereira also said one driver now works only Tuesdays and Thursdays on medical runs, and she asked whether veterans are still getting to doctors in Providence and Brockton. Riders pushed onto those two days could have to cancel and rebook appointments, she said. The administration said it had not heard of any change to the schedule and would follow up, and that, as far as it knew, the veterans services officer had no problems with his drivers.
What happens next
On Pereira's motion, seconded by Peckham, the committee tabled the item on a voice vote until the veterans services director can attend. Peckham asked for a printout from Veterans Services showing any missed medical appointments, and Canuel asked the administration to update the committee once the hiring is done; no date was set.
At the full council meeting later the same night, councilors voted 7-1 on a roll call, with eight answering and Pereira voting no, to adopt a separate resolution from Councilor Andrew Raposo. It asks the Committee on Ordinances and Legislation to meet with the city administrator and the directors of human resources, health and human services, financial services and veterans services about reorganizing the senior grocery ride program under the correct department and clarifying how vehicles meant for veterans are used (our story on that meeting).
Seniors can register for Council on Aging transportation at 508-324-2401, and grocery trips are arranged by calling the Council on Aging at least a week ahead. The trips serve the South End on Mondays and the North End on Fridays, with Bedford Street as the dividing line. Veterans Services can be reached at 508-324-2432 or veterans@fallriverma.gov.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every statement, quote and vote comes from the Fall River Government Television video of the Oct. 27 Committee on Health and Environmental Affairs meeting, checked against its captions. The agenda item comes from the committee's Oct. 27 agenda, the members from the council's 2026 committee list, the suspension notice, schedule and phone numbers from the Council on Aging and Veterans Services pages, and the director's name and title from the city's Oct. 1 release. The full council's roll call and the Raposo resolution come from the Fall River Government Television video of the Oct. 27 council meeting. We read them on Oct. 30. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. The veterans services director was invited to the committee session but did not attend.
Corrections
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Sources (7)
- Fall River Government Television: 10.27.2026 City Council, Committee on Health and Environmental AffairsPublished Oct. 27, 2026 (20 minutes 35 seconds). Item 3 runs from about 0:54 to 20:21; table vote about 20:10. Quotes checked against the video's captions. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- City of Fall River: City Council Committee on Health and Environmental Affairs agenda, Oct. 27, 2026, 5:15 p.m. (item 3, resolution to convene to discuss restoring grocery transportation services for veterans and seniors, referred Oct. 13, 2026)Clerk stamped Oct. 20, 2026. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- City of Fall River: 2026 City Council committeesHealth and Environmental Affairs: Canuel, chair; Peckham and Pereira. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- City of Fall River: Council on AgingSuspension notice, grocery shopping schedule and transportation phone line. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- City of Fall River: Veteran's ServicesSuspension notice and contact line. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- City of Fall River: Veterans Day parade releaseDated Oct. 1, 2026; names Talos D. Farris, Director of Veterans Services. Read Oct. 30, 2026.
- Fall River Government Television: 10.27.2026 Fall River City CouncilCalled to order at 6 p.m. Raposo resolution read and adopted about 3:06:08 to 3:07:50, roll call 7-1 with Pereira voting no. Read Oct. 30, 2026.