Transit Authority Increases Shared-Ride Services
- The Board of Directors of Town and Country Transit reviewed financial documents as well as heard fixed- and shared-route changes Wednesday afternoon.
by Jonathan Weaver
Some south Armstrong County residents may get to see some local transit authority buses for the first time in years after a recent adjustment.
Town and Country Transit Authority announced yesterday that drivers now offer shared-route services to residents closer to the county-line, including areas such as Apollo, Leechburg and Vandergrift.
Town and Country Transit General Manager Patti Lynn Baker announced various route changes to area customers at their monthly meeting Wednesady, July 20, to the transit authority's board of directors.
General Manager Patti Lynn Baker said the authority was initially responsible for the area long ago, but the region was subcontracted.
‘We’ve always been there – the decision to take those trips back was because, honestly, it’s a good business decision,” Baker said. “They should have been ours for 17 years.”
Baker and Operations Manager Gerry Miller did not know why the routes were not utilized by Mid-County Transit Authority, the apartment’s legal name.
Drivers take residents on local trips, such as to beauty salons, the post office and shopping malls within ten miles of their home, as opposed to out-of-town trips.
The route service was effective July 1.
Open Records Officer Tami Simon said many of the trips are handled by the authority itself rather than other agencies.
“It’s doubled – almost tripled,” Simon said. “And we’ll have up to 48-50 trips down there daily.”
Baker said the authority expects to make approximately 350-400 trips per month to the southern region.
In other news, after some federal reshuffling of dollars, the authority looks to add to its shared ride/Persons with Disabilities fleet.
With $205,000 left over from last year, the transit authority looks to purchase some new vehicles for riders, including some 7-passenger vans that can also transport wheelchair-ridden riders.
“With last year’s money, we’re going to be able to replace two vehicles and add three vehicles to our fleet, which would be a great addition for us here and better provide service to our constituents,” Baker said.
Miller said the vehicles will be well-used.
“We need the maneuverability because we’re going up driveways, so it’s a little tougher in a cut-away than it would be in these vans,” Miller said. “A 7-passenger is a lot easier than a 16-passenger.”
Miller also expects to see fuel savings from using the vans.
“I expect to see substantial fuel savings as well,” Miller said.
Besides the trips that were added to the service, two late-night fixed-route shuttles were eliminated because of lack of participation, said Baker.
“They weren’t very well ridden,” Baker said. “We shuffled some things around during the day to make those more productive, as well.”
The routes were cut effective July 11. Miller said he has not received any negative feedback after the shuttles were cut.
Bus service now concludes at 10:30PM.