In Richmond, Phillip Tenney needs a reliable way to get to work.

In Winchester, Colleen Hurley wishes she could take public transportation to college.

And in Virginia Beach, Christine Cutchins just wants to go out on the town occasionally.

All three participated in a statewide video conference Wednesday designed to help Virginia improve its transportation services for disabled residents.

Advocates for the disabled joined in from 16 different locations around the state, including Germanna Community College in Massaponax.

The discussion was organized by the newly created Virginia Transportation Alliance, an organization that plans to lobby for reliable, affordable public transportation throughout Virginia.

Many of the speakers said public transit provides the only way for them to reach work, school, shopping centers or doctor appointments. But the services have limitations.

In Grundy, Janet Marshall said she was late to work twice this week because of unreliable transit.

In Wytheville, disabled residents sometimes need to give van services two weeks notice to secure a ride, said Donna Buckland, assistant director of the Appalachian Independence Center. Some residents couldn't attend Wednesday's meeting because no drivers were available, she said.

"I'm not saying they don't help us out," she said. "But if a person needed to get somewhere today and called up and said, 'I need public transportation,' that's not happening."

Hurley said she'd like to attend Lord Fairfax Community College. Though the city of Winchester offers some public transportation, those buses don't travel to the college, which is outside the city limits, Hurley said.

"I would like to be able to finish my degree," said Hurley, who also pointed out that the buses don't travel to the Virginia Employment Commission or the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Tenney owns a van, but when it's inoperable, he said, he has to rely on friends to drive him to his office in Rockville, 10 miles from home. Hiring a private van service would cost him $45 a trip, he said.

"My van spends a lot of time in the shop," Tenney said. "When it's in the shop, I have to depend on friends to come by and literally pick me up out of the chair and put me in their truck."

Cutchins said her biggest complaint was that existing buses stop running around 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.