Spotlight : ENDEAVRIDE

Small-town residents, particularly those with disabilities and older adults, often face mobility challenges compounded by economic, medical, and social vulnerabilities. Responding to the urgent need for transportation and health care, planners and entrepreneurs created ENDEAVRide, a novel “2-in-1” service that provides door-to-door service for passengers to access healthcare, food, and shelter and functions as a mobile telemedicine clinic.

ENDEAVR (Envisioning the Neo-Traditional Development by Embracing the Autonomous Vehicles Realm) is an ambitious project to re-envision “smart” city solutions to small towns with students from a wide range of disciplines. Working with Texas Target Communities to connect to a community partner, ENDEAVRide launched in Nolanville in November 2020. On average, it serves 100-person trips per month. In 2021, ENDEAVRide also helped hundreds of Nolanville citizens to get COVID-19 vaccinations.

ENDEAVRide is a collaborative program operated by the ENDEAVR Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, and supported by many partners, such as Texas A&M University, the City of Nolanville, iHealth Clinic, Wocsor LLC, and CatoCare Inc. As a non-profit grassroots initiative, ENDEAVRide has been staffed by community volunteers

Awards and Media:

In September 2021, Texas A&M received the 2021 W.K. Kellogg Award for Exemplary Community Engagement for its work with the City of Nolanville (Association of Public Land-Grant Universities, 2021).

In October 2021, ENDEAVRide received the prestigious Smart 50 Award (Smart Cities Connect, 2021 ).

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