If the senior programs at the community centers in Maple Valley and Black Diamond want a motto for one of their increasingly useful services, they might try “Have van, will travel.” Or maybe, “Beat the gas prices.”

Both centers provide transportation for seniors who don’t have their own cars or, if they, can’t afford gas for them.

Greater Maple Valley Community Center has a van available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to take almost a dozen folks at a time to appointments and stores. Rides cost $1 or $2 each way, depending on locations.

At Black Diamond Community Center, vans shuttle seniors between their homes and the center for the weekly Thursday luncheon. The round-trip fee is $2 for Black Diamond residents and $3 for Maple Valleyites.

Officials at both centers say the service has always been an important link for seniors, and especially now that they’re virtually being priced out at the gas pumps.

“With the recent gas crunch, some of them are telling us that it’s harder for them to get around as much as they used to, particularly for some of the social opportunities we offer,” said Leslie Johnson, part of the administration at Black Diamond Community Center. “We don’t want them to be isolated. We want them to know the vans are there for them as the need becomes more pressing.”

The center has three vans. Two of them – a 13-passenger rig and a smaller model – were donated by King County after being retired from Metro Transit. The third one, also standard-size, was donated by Robert Chasse, a former member of the center’s board of directors.

The drivers are center workers, including Johnson. There’s no limit on trips or the number of passengers, “just as long as they can all fit in,” she said.

Greater Maple Valley Community Center has been vanning for 10 years. The vehicle is provided by Metro Transit, but it’s piloted by center staffers and “we pay all expenses except maintenance,” said Linda Worley, senior activities specialist.

Planning is the key to meshing the transportation needs of clients, she noted.

For scheduling rides, “we like 24-hour notice, but sometimes we can accommodate same-day requests,” Worley said. “We try to try to be as efficient as possible when planning our routes. We can accommodate as many as 11 passengers at one time, but no one has a lengthy wait at either end of the trip.” This van is largely used for local transportation, but if it’s available, we can travel farther.”

She added the van is for seniors and disabled adults who normally would use Metro’s Access service, which has limited availability in Maple Valley.

Trips on Access cost 75 cents each way.