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A Free Ride to a VA-Authorised Appointment — 36 of 53 Counties

The state veterans department has held a federal highly rural transportation grant since October 2015 and, working with the state transportation department, contracts existing transit providers to carry veterans to VA-authorised medical appointments at no charge. The appointment can be at a VA facility or at a non-VA facility, provided the VA authorised it. Thirty-six of the state’s fifty-three counties are eligible, plus several tribal nations. The test is population density: fewer than seven people per square mile.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The state veterans department has held a federal highly rural transportation grant since October 2015 and, working with the state transportation department, contracts existing transit providers to carry veterans to VA-authorised medical appointments at no charge. The appointment can be at a VA facility or at a non-VA facility, provided the VA authorised it. Thirty-six of the state’s fifty-three counties are eligible, plus several tribal nations. The test is population density: fewer than seven people per square mile.

What it's worth: Transport to a VA-authorised medical appointment at no cost to the veteran, in 36 highly rural counties and several tribal nations

  • The department states the highly rural transportation grant is a federal grant awarded to the state veterans department beginning in October 2015.
  • The department, working with the state transportation department, contracts existing transit providers to carry veterans.
  • The rides are to VA-authorised medical appointments, at a VA health care facility or at a non-VA health care facility.
  • The department states there is no charge to the veteran.
  • The department states 36 of the state’s 53 counties are eligible, and names Adams, Benson, Billings, Bottineau, Bowman, Burke, Cavalier, Dickey, Divide, Dunn, Eddy, Emmons, Foster, Golden Valley, Grant, Griggs, Hettinger, Kidder, LaMoure, Logan, McHenry, McIntosh, McKenzie, McLean, Mountrail, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Pierce, Ransom, Renville, Sargent, Sheridan, Sioux, Slope, Steele, Towner and Wells counties, plus several tribal nations.
  • The federal programme rule is that eligible counties have fewer than seven people per square mile, and that grantees are veteran service organisations and state veterans service agencies.
  • The department also describes fixed-route DAV and VA vans running from county veteran service offices: those routes cannot deviate, are not wheelchair accessible, generally do not carry companions, and a veteran using them cannot also claim VA travel pay.
  • A separate state grant, funded from federal pandemic relief money, ran from 1 December 2021 and was published as available through 31 December 2024 or until funds were exhausted, for veterans living outside a ten-mile radius of the Fargo medical center and the outpatient clinics at Bismarck, Dickinson, Devils Lake, Grafton, Grand Forks, Minot and Williston.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are in this state.

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.

From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.

How to claim it

  1. 1Check whether your county is one of the 36. The gate is where you live, not what you are rated at, and it is the only thing that decides this.
  2. 2Ring the county veterans service office first. They know which contracted provider covers your area and they book more of these rides than anyone else.
  3. 3Use the transportation department’s transit provider map if you would rather arrange it yourself. The department links it directly from its transportation page.
  4. 4Ask for the highly rural grant ride by name if you need a wheelchair, a companion, or a destination that is not on a fixed route. The DAV and VA vans cannot deviate from their routes, are not wheelchair accessible, and generally do not carry companions.
  5. 5Do not claim VA travel pay for a trip you took on a DAV or VA van — the department states you cannot have both.
  6. 6If somebody points you at "the state transport grant", ask which one. The pandemic-relief state grant was published as running only to the end of 2024; the federal highly rural grant held by the department is the one described here.
Form
No form — booked through the transit provider or the county veterans service office
File with
Your county veterans service office, or the contracted transit provider for your area
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionTwo different rural transport schemes have run here and they are constantly confused. The pandemic-relief state grant was published as available from 1 December 2021 through 31 December 2024 or until funds ran out. The scheme still described on the department’s transportation page is the federal highly rural grant it has held since October 2015. Ask which one before you plan a journey around it.
Worth knowingThe DAV and VA vans and the highly rural grant rides are not the same service. The vans are free but rigid: fixed routes, no wheelchairs, usually no companions, and no VA travel pay on top. The grant-funded rides are contracted transit and are the route to ask about when the van will not do.
Known gapThe department’s page does not publish how far ahead a ride must be booked, whether a companion may travel on a contracted transit ride, or what happens when an appointment is cancelled at short notice. Ask the county service office.

Sources

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