1980 a number of town meetings were held to cover aspects of NECTD's proposed services, although these meetings often had extremely low turnout, averaging around 10 attendees each. The federal government was expected to cover 50% of NECTD's costs, the state of Connecticut 33%, and member municipalities the remaining 17% respectively. For fares, individual rides were anticipated to cost between $0.50 and $1.00 ($1.81 and $3.61 in 2021) with the reduced rate for elderly and disabled persons being between $0.25 and $0.50 ($0.90 and $1.81 in 2021). Individual routes were identified around January 1980, with Maziarz noting stops along Route 12, Day Kimball Hospital, the Murphy Recreation Park, and to elderly homes and housing complexes in the area. In May 1980 Gerald McCarthy, acting director of NECTD, noted the insufficiency of NECTAR's van fleet in the pilot program's service: "During commuter hours our three existing vans are running full, and we're turning away people." As part of reducing congestion, a number of solutions were planned to be implemented under NECTD. These included the acquisition of a fourth van, the replacement of all vans with Steyr City Buses, and a "transportation brokerage" to coordinate carpool and vanpool service. Although "telephone and ride" service was originally intended for NECTD, its planned implementation was significantly reduced by May. The towns of Pomfret, Putnam, and Sterling pulled out from funding NECTD, leading to their removal from the district. Although Putnam was considered too important a city to leave out of the program, it would not receive service until November 28, 1980. Following Pomfret, Putnam, and Sterling's removal, NECTD's fixed route and car-/vanpool services were only planned to serve Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastford, Killingly, Plainfield, Thompson, and Woodstock. Early Years (1980-1986) More than a month after originally anticipated, NECTD made its first fixed route trip at 9:05 a.m. on Monday, August 11, 1980 in Danielson. The district's first rider was Mary Moulin, a resident of the Westfield Village senior citizens' complex. Although carpooling and vanpooling services were promised, they had not yet been implemented by late-September 1980. On October 28, 1980 carpool and vanpool services began, branded by the district as "Ride Share". In November 1980 Putnam's Chamber of Commerce paid for the town to re-enter NECTD citing sales losses that occurred since their withdrawal. On November 28, 1980 service to Putnam was added along the Danielson-Thompson route, alongside the town's entry into NECTD's "Ride Share"