Wheelchair Accessible Transportation in Racine and Kenosha County, WI

Families in Racine and Kenosha counties run into the same problem Waukesha families do, with one extra wrinkle: the subsidized ride programs here are drawn around cities rather than counties, so where you live decides which one you can use, and most of them stop well short of the Milwaukee hospitals where the specialist appointment actually is.

This page explains what each local program covers, exactly where it stops, and when it makes sense to arrange a private accessible ride through BriteLift instead.

We arrange rides in Racine, Mount Pleasant, Caledonia, Sturtevant, Union Grove, Burlington, Waterford, Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, Somers, Twin Lakes, Salem Lakes, Paddock Lake and the surrounding communities.

Check the subsidized programs first — they are cheaper than we are

If your trip fits inside one of these, use it. A subsidized ride will cost you a fraction of a private one.

Racine County: RYDE Racine and DART

RYDE Racine, the City of Racine transit system, runs DART — a door-to-door dial-a-ride service for people whose disability prevents them from using the fixed-route bus.

• Registration: 262-619-2438. You complete an application and a physician certification form before your first ride.
• Where it goes: within roughly three-quarters of a mile of the RYDE fixed routes, which cover eastern Racine County — Lake Michigan west to I-94, Four Mile Road south to Georgetown.
• Hours: about 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM Monday through Friday, 5:30 AM to 6:30 PM Saturday, and 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM Sunday.
• Tickets: drivers cannot make change, and ride tickets are non-refundable.

If you live outside the RYDE service area — Union Grove, Waterford, Burlington and the western part of the county — DART does not reach you. Racine County Human Services runs a separate Specialized Transportation program for county residents outside the city system. Their rules on out-of-county medical trips are not the same as the city program’s, so call and ask specifically about the trip you need rather than assuming either way.

Kenosha County: city paratransit

Kenosha Area Transit’s paratransit is door-to-door public transportation for people who cannot use the fixed-route bus because of a disability.

• Reservations: 262-278-6455, at least one day in advance.
• Provider: as of January 1, 2026 the service is operated by Carepool Innovations, Inc. It was previously run by Kenosha Achievement Center under the Care-A-Van name, so older phone numbers and printed leaflets are out of date.
• Fare: $4.00 each way, exact change — the driver cannot make change.
• Hours: 4:55 AM to 12:30 AM Monday through Friday, and 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Saturday. There is no Sunday service.
• Where it goes: the city of Kenosha, east of I-94.
• Eligibility: an application with a doctor’s signature confirming the condition that prevents you from riding the bus.

The Kenosha County Aging and Disability Resource Center keeps a directory of other options for county residents outside that service area, including volunteer driver and senior transportation programs. If the rider has Wisconsin Medicaid, the state’s transportation benefit is arranged through MTM at 1-866-907-1493 and will be cheaper than anything we can do — use it where the trip qualifies.

Where those programs run out

Four situations account for nearly every call we get from this part of the state.

The pickup is west of I-94

This is the largest gap in Kenosha County. The city paratransit service area is Kenosha east of the interstate. Twin Lakes, Salem Lakes, Paddock Lake, Silver Lake, Bristol and Wheatland sit outside it. The same applies in western Racine County, where Union Grove, Waterford and Burlington fall outside the RYDE routes.

The appointment is in Milwaukee County

Both city programs are built to move people around their own city. The cardiology, oncology, transplant and VA care that Racine and Kenosha patients get referred to is 25 to 45 miles north, at Froedtert, St. Luke’s or the Zablocki VA. That is the trip families most often end up arranging privately, and it is the one worth planning several days ahead.

It is a Sunday, an evening, or today

Kenosha paratransit does not run Sundays at all. Both programs want a day’s notice, and hospital discharges rarely give you one. We ask for 24 hours where we can, because it gives the best chance of matching the right vehicle, and we still take same-day requests when an accessible vehicle is free.

Nobody is certified yet

Both programs require an application with a physician’s signature before the first ride. That does not happen in an afternoon. If a parent has just started using a wheelchair, apply now for the program that covers them, and use a private ride for the appointments that fall in the meantime.

The trip north to the Milwaukee medical campuses

Give us the appointment time rather than a pickup time you have worked out yourself. We plan backward from it. From Racine allow about two hours before the appointment; from Kenosha or Twin Lakes, closer to two and a half, and more in winter or at rush hour. I-94 north through Oak Creek at 7:30 AM is the reason a ride that looks like 45 minutes on a map is not.

• Froedtert Hospital and the Regional Medical Center campus — 9200 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee (Children’s Wisconsin is on the same campus)
• Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center — 2900 W. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee
• Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center — 5000 W. National Ave., Milwaukee
• Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s — 2323 N. Lake Dr., Milwaukee

These campuses are large. Tell us the clinic name and the entrance, not just the hospital — the wrong door can mean a quarter-mile push indoors.

What to tell us when you book

• The chair. Manual, power or scooter, and its width at the widest point. Power chairs and extra-wide chairs need a different ramp and more interior room, and bariatric equipment needs more notice.
• Whether the rider transfers to a seat or stays in the chair for the whole trip. Riders who stay in the chair are secured with a four-point floor system plus a separate lap and shoulder belt.
• Oxygen, a walker, a cane or a service animal.
• Whether someone is riding along. A family member or caregiver is welcome, and the seat has to be reserved.
• Whether it repeats. Dialysis, infusion or a course of radiation on a fixed weekly pattern is easier to set up once as a standing schedule than to rebook every week.
• The return leg. Book it at the same time. Deciding after the appointment is how people end up waiting.

What it costs

Most one-way rides around the Milwaukee area fall between $100 and $150, and a same-day round trip usually lands between $200 and $250. Distance is the biggest single factor, so a Kenosha or Twin Lakes pickup heading to a Milwaukee County hospital sits at the top of that range or past it, while a local trip inside Racine or Kenosha sits at the bottom. The booking tool quotes your actual trip before you commit to anything.

This is private pay. There is no eligibility screening, no prior authorization and no case manager who has to sign off. Full cost breakdown.

Book a ride

Prefer to talk it through? Call 414-716-1212. For a standing weekly schedule, calling is usually faster than filling the form in each time.

Questions we get from Racine and Kenosha families

Can you take my father from Kenosha to Froedtert?

Yes. That is one of the most common trips we arrange out of Kenosha County. Neither the city paratransit service nor the RYDE routes go that far north, so it usually has to be arranged privately. Book the return at the same time — appointments at the Wauwatosa campus frequently run long, and we would rather build that in than have you calling from a waiting room.

I live in Twin Lakes. Do you come out that far?

Yes. Twin Lakes is in Kenosha County and it is a Wisconsin pickup, so it is arranged out of the Milwaukee book like any other. It sits outside the city paratransit area, which is why families there tend to have no subsidized option for a medical trip.

Do I need to be certified or enrolled with you?

No. There is no application, no physician form and no eligibility process. You book the ride and it is arranged.

Can you do a standing weekly schedule for dialysis?

Yes, and for a three-times-a-week chair time it is the sensible way to do it. Use the online form to enter several dates at once, or call and we will set the pattern up in one conversation. More on dialysis transportation.

How far ahead should I book?

24 hours gives the best availability, and more for a long trip into Milwaukee County or for bariatric equipment. Same-day requests depend on an accessible vehicle being free, so call as soon as you know the time.

Related pages

• Service areas across southeastern Wisconsin
• Wheelchair transportation in Waukesha County
• Rides to Froedtert and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus
• Radiation and chemotherapy transportation
• Every Milwaukee-area transportation option, compared
• Hospital discharge rides
• Medical appointment transportation
• Bariatric wheelchair transportation

Program details verified August 2026 with Kenosha County, the City of Kenosha transit department, RYDE Racine and the Kenosha County ADRC directory. Programs change their rules — confirm by phone before relying on one.