SPC Grant Will Help TACT Plan
General Manager Patti Lynn Baker listens to Manor Township Board Representative Steve Anderson’s ideas regarding getting the word out to Armstrong Junior-Senior High students about the fixed-route bus runs that can pick-up students after school.
by Jonathan Weaver
Town and Country Transit General Manager Patti Lynn Baker and Operations Manager Gerry Miller had their first meeting with a Texas company that will help them plan for the future.
Earlier this year, Town and Country Transit received a grant through the Southwest Planning Commission to enable long-term planning with AECOM.
“(AECOM)’s going to help us with long-range projections,” Miller said. “We’re looking at growing our business as it is now and keeping it healthy. They’re going to look at everything we do as we do now and help us see how we can sustain it or grow it.”
AECOM also has nearly a dozen offices in Pennsylvania, including three in Pittsburgh.
Town and Country Transit leaders had their first meeting with AECOM October 19. Other AECOM officials also were involved in the face-to-face meeting via Skype before a site visit the week of December 7.
One of those ways AECOM will specifically help is with tracking riders, Baker said.
“One of the things they’re going to be helping us doing is figuring out a better way to track ridership on specific runs because we don’t have a good way of capturing some of that ridership information.”
Ridership in both fixed-route and shared-ride trips has dropped from at this time last year, but is still more than in the first four months of fiscal year 2013-14.
Some of that ridership might increase based on the newest edition to the “Green Line” – Armstrong Junior-Senior High School.
Although not many school-aged riders have been utilizing the new pick-up/drop-offs available at the Manor Township secondary school yet, Baker was optimistic based on latest inquiries. She hoped to also utilize social media to get the information to students, much like transit officials did yesterday in regards to bus re-routes due to the South Water Street road closure.
“This is more about building a community relationship – for years, we serviced both Ford City and Kittanning high schools. We took students to school in the morning,” Baker said. “We need to develop that dependence on public transportation and make that something that they can become reliant upon.”
“The more we do that and the more we become a part of people’s lives, that’s when they become more comfortable using (Town and Country Transit).”
Last month’s 40th anniversary celebration was attended by about 100 people despite the rainy conditions.
Local News | jweaver November 19, 2015
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