FORT MITCHELL, Ky. — A rideshare service for people with disabilities is growing in northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. Severe winter weather last week posed a challenge for the business, but it didn’t let that impede helping people get to their destinations.


What You Need To Know

  • Alan Hebel started Ride a WAV in the northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area about a year ago with his partner Lori Meininger

  • Since then, Hebel said they’ve grown the business by about four times

  • They're the only ride share service in the area that’s door-to-door for people living with disabilities, and not just for medical appointments

  • Hebel said they get calls every week from people who were left behind or their initial ride refused to come back and get them

Alan Hebel started Ride a WAV in the northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area about a year ago with his partner Lori Meininger. Spectrum News 1 spoke to them in April.

Since then, Hebel said they’ve grown the business by about four times.

“We’re just about at the point where we can break even,” he said.

Hebel said they’re the only ride share service in the area that’s door-to-door for people living with disabilities, and not just for medical appointments.

“They want more out of life than just going to the doctor. They want to be able to have mobility and flexibility. And that’s the part we bring to the table,” he said. “Give them the flexibility to not only go to doctor’s appointments, but to go to family reunions, weddings.”

Hebel said they get calls every week from people who were left behind or their initial ride refused to come back and get them.  

For a company that wants to continue to grow, extreme winter weather like the area recently experienced can be a bump in the road.

“We see a lot of cancelations if it gets extremely cold,” Hebel said. “It’s kind of hard for us because we have customers that have to go. And because they have to go, it doesn’t really matter what the weather is.”

Hebel has been a professional driver for several decades now. He said he gets more fulfillment doing this than anything else he’s ever done. It makes him think of his favorite Mark Twain quote.

“If you’re lucky, the two greatest days in your life are the day you’re born, and the day you find out why. And I think that by getting involved in Ride A WAV, it’s given me a sense of purpose, why I’m here. And that purpose is to be of service to people,” he said.

That service is bringing families together and taking a lot of stress away from them. Hebel said he’ll keep providing it till the wheels fall off.

Appointments can be made by phone at (859) 918-9900, and they also have an app called Limo Anywhere. Rides cost $48 and an additional $2.40 per mile.