B Y WAI PHYO MYINT
Poultney residents welcomed the re-launching of the public transportation service, also known as The Bus, by the Marble Valley Regional Transit District (MVRTD) last month. The Bus expanded its service up to the Poultney region by extending the Castleton and Fair Haven route on September 29.
A 16-seat bus is operating five times a day during the weekdays and four times a day during the weekends. From now until the end of this year, The Bus will operate free of charge. Starting from January 1, the bus ride fee will be $2 a person. “The service to Castleton and Fair Haven originally began about eight years ago, with a grant that funded the service under ‘Job Access Reverse Commute’ or JARC,” said Ellen Atkinson, an official from the MVRTD.
Atkinson also added that the MVRTD was able to move the funding over to add more service on the Castleton/Fair Haven route, thus making Poultney its new stop. “We can only expand services as funding and ridership are available and make the most sense,” she noted.
The Poultney residents were delighted about The Bus service. However, they said that they have yet to know about its routes and time schedule. “There is nothing wrong with public transportation. It’s a wonderful service. We need it. With the cost of gas right now, people should use public transportation,” said Jean Roberts, who is an assistant librarian of Poultney Public Library. Roberts further noted that most of the people still don’t know about the service. “I think they need a lot of publicity to make people aware of it,” she said. She said that the service is really essential for people who are non-drivers or who have financial problems to drive to Rutland. “It’s not a good economic time right now to drive to Rutland all the time or just for fun like we used to,” said Roberts.
Other Poultney residents, like Matthew Aratare and William Frengh, also expressed their delight about The Bus route reaching their remote town. “I think it’s fantastic,” Aratare said. Aratare suggested that The Bus should put road signs for those who want to catch the bus. “We used to have a bus service, but it stopped several years ago. It’s now nice to have it again,” William Frengh also commented. Frengh, 58, said that he is in need of the public transportation, because he has never had a driving license. Frengh said that he goes to Rutland only to see his physicians, but he always has to ask someone to give him a ride.
However, in order to attract more riders, time is required for the Poultney residents to get used to the public transportation system. “For someone who has never lived in an urban area, it will be a whole new process of thinking to decide to take a bus ride,” Jean Roberts said.
The MVRTD has provided the public transportation service in Rutland county since September 1976. Its various transportation services have covered 28 out of 29 local towns.
