Leaders with the Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority are working to find a new insurance carrier for Benton Harbor’s Dial A Ride service after getting word in September it’s being dropped by its insurance.

TCATA Board Chair Ron Singleton told us the state’s transit pool dropped Dial A Ride due to too many filed claims. Speaking at a TCATA Board meeting this week, Singleton said the body has a lot of issues left over from the past administration it’s working out.

“They legitimately had some concerns, some serious concerns, and they’re keeping their fingers crossed for us, too,” Singleton said. “Issues with insurance, they’re being worked on. They’re being worked on, and there’s a reason why we got into that issue with insurance, but I think it’s something that our hardworking staff are doing and everybody’s doing, that those issues are being worked out, too.”

Singleton said some of the issues facing Dial A Ride have been overwhelming, but the board is overcoming them.

Dial A Ride Interim Director Todd Shurn is working to find a new insurer. If that effort’s not successful, then Dial A Ride will have to be off the road come December 1, when its coverage ends.

The board’s Cora Robinson called for patience from the public, saying Dial A ride is important to the whole community and “there’s no way any of us are going to sit back and allow this to be destroyed.”