Carrying Forward a Vision of Mobility and Inclusion
Since its inception, LIFTT’s ADA Accessible Rural Transportation Program has been more than just a plan — it has been a promise: a promise to create pathways, not just roadways; to connect, not just commute.
This promise took root thanks to the generous support and guidance of the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC). Through their planning grant and ongoing technical assistance, NADTC helped LIFTT plant the seeds of a vision long shared by our communities: that aging and disabled individuals in rural Montana deserve safe, dignified, and dependable transportation, and deserve to be included at every turn of the journey. All the members of the Advisory Committee worked very hard, led by Garrett Mills, our tireless Board Chair.
Now, after nearly a year of tireless collaboration, public input, and policy development, we are proud to say: we are almost ready to launch. The planning phase is nearing completion, and we are on track to receive two ADA-compliant vehicles from the Montana Department of Transportation before the end of 2025 — an exciting step forward for our region and the individuals we serve.
From the outset, our work has been guided by a clear vision:
To be a driving force in promoting independence and eliminating barriers for aging and disabled individuals through equitable transportation in South-Central and Eastern Montana.
And our mission has anchored us each step of the way:
To bridge the transportation gap in rural Montana, including Native American Reservations, by providing reliable, ADA-compliant transportation, enabling access to education, healthcare, employment, and community engagement by ensuring the right to mobility and inclusion for aging and disabled individuals.
This program’s design is rooted in the voices of those it serves. Through focus groups held across our service area — including tribal communities, individuals with lived experience, and allied professionals — we’ve heard loud and clear what matters most: accessibility, dignity, safety, and belonging. Our policies and practices are being shaped by these insights and refined through the dedication of a multidisciplinary advisory committee that has met monthly to ensure we remain accountable, inclusive, and strategic.
As we enter the next phase, our gratitude to NADTC only deepens. They believed in LIFTT’s capacity to lead a transformation in rural mobility, and their belief helped unlock the momentum we now carry forward.
So stay tuned. Wheels will soon turn. Lives will shift. And our shared landscape of opportunity will stretch just a little further, toward a future where transportation is not a privilege, but a right.
Together, we’re moving forward.
About Living Independently for Today & Tomorrow (LIFTT): LIFTT is a Montana 501(c)3 corporation organized as a Center for Independent Living (CIL). With team members based in Billings and Glendive, LIFTT provides aging and disabled members of the community with programs and services that help empower them to break down the physical, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers that prevent them from being fully independent participants in their lives and communities throughout 18 counties in southeastern and south-central Montana: Big Horn, Carbon, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, Golden Valley, McCone, Musselshell, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Rosebud, Stillwater, Treasure, Wibaux, and Yellowstone. For more information, please visit liftt.org or download our mobile app for your Apple or Android Device.
