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Rides to VA Care — Named Regional Services, Not One Statewide Number

MassMobility publishes the Commonwealth’s list of transport services for veterans. The named ones include Soldier On with the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority in Berkshire County, VetRides for Hudson, Maynard and Stow, a Nathan Hale service from the Plymouth area, and a Norfolk County volunteer driver programme — alongside Ride Match, the searchable statewide database.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

MassMobility publishes the Commonwealth’s list of transport services for veterans. The named ones include Soldier On with the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority in Berkshire County, VetRides for Hudson, Maynard and Stow, a Nathan Hale service from the Plymouth area, and a Norfolk County volunteer driver programme — alongside Ride Match, the searchable statewide database.

What it's worth: Regional rides to VA medical care, free in the services that publish a price

  • The page is published by MassMobility and states that "Transportation services targeted to veterans are available in many regions to help veterans access medical care at the VA or travel to other destinations."
  • Berkshire County: "Soldier On and the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority partner to provide transportation to veterans and their families in Berkshire County. Transportation is available Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM to the VA Medical Centers at Leeds and Albany, the Pittsfield outpatient clinic, medical appointments, work, education, and shopping." The published numbers are (413) 418-4300 and toll free (855) 483-8743.
  • MetroWest: "VetRides transports veterans who live in Hudson, Maynard, or Stow to medical appointments in the local area or in Boston free of charge." The published contact is Brian Stearns, (978) 568-9635, bstearns@townofhudson.org.
  • South Shore: Nathan Hale "offers transportation from the Plymouth area to the Brockton, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury VA Centers."
  • Norfolk County: a volunteer driver programme is listed.
  • The page also names Ride Match, described as an online, searchable database of public and private transportation providers in Massachusetts, and notes that many local transit authorities serve VA facilities and offer discounts for veterans.
  • Federal routes named on the same page are the Disabled American Veterans Volunteer VA Hospital Transportation programme, VA shuttles serving New England VA Healthcare, and Veterans Health Administration beneficiary travel reimbursement.
  • The page states that Veterans’ Service Officers serve each town in Massachusetts and can help look for transportation, and that Veteran Outreach Centers may provide transportation services.
  • Only VetRides is published as free of charge. No fare is published for the other services, and none is stated here.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served, which is what this route is written around.
  • The Berkshire County service is published as reaching veterans and their families.
  • Your home is in Massachusetts.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Start with your region rather than with a statewide number, because there is no statewide number. The services are named by area.
  2. 2Berkshire County: ring the Veterans and Families Transportation Call Center on (413) 418-4300 or toll free (855) 483-8743. It runs Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and it goes to the Leeds and Albany VA Medical Centers and the Pittsfield outpatient clinic — and also to work, education and shopping, which most medical transport does not.
  3. 3Hudson, Maynard or Stow: contact VetRides through Brian Stearns on (978) 568-9635 or bstearns@townofhudson.org. It carries veterans to local appointments and into Boston free of charge.
  4. 4Plymouth area: ask about the Nathan Hale service, which runs to the Brockton, Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury VA Centers.
  5. 5Norfolk County: ask about the volunteer driver programme listed on the same page.
  6. 6Anywhere else: use Ride Match, the state’s searchable database of public and private transport providers, and ask your local transit authority whether it serves the VA facility and discounts veterans.
  7. 7Ask your town’s Veterans’ Service Officer to do the looking. Every city and town in Massachusetts has one, and the page names them as a route to finding transport.
  8. 8Ask the VA about beneficiary travel separately. Reimbursement for some transport costs comes from the Veterans Health Administration, not from the state, and it is a different claim.
Form
None — contact the regional service directly
File with
The regional transport service for your area, or your town’s Veterans’ Service Officer
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThere is no single Massachusetts veterans transport programme. What exists is a set of regional services with different operators, different catchments and different terms, listed in one place by MassMobility. Asking the Executive Office of Veterans Services for "the veterans van" gets you pointed back at this list.
Worth knowingThe Berkshire County service is unusual twice over: it carries family members as well as veterans, and it goes to work, education and shopping as well as to medical appointments. Most veteran transport is medical-only and veteran-only.
Known gapOnly VetRides is published as free. No fare, eligibility test or booking notice is published for the Berkshire, Plymouth-area or Norfolk County services, so ask when you ring.

Sources

Why only one source type: MassMobility is the Commonwealth’s own mobility management programme and this is its dedicated page on the subject; the individual regional services are run by transit authorities, towns and non-profits rather than by a state agency with a second published policy to read.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.