By Greta Solsaa/VTDigger
Chris Bannerman works with the organization Bridge to Rutland to help provide housing, legal aid, education, and other resources to asylum seekers in the region. She often sees people who lack transportation, making it difficult to find jobs and build new lives.
One asylum seeker who has held a job at Rutland Regional Medical Center for nearly a year uses public transportation in the morning but relies on Bridge to Rutland to get a ride home at night. That’s because The Bus, Rutland’s main public transportation mode, does not operate during the evenings and on Sundays, Bannerman said.
“I just feel like we expect all these people to work, and yet we don’t make it that easy,” said Bannerman.
According to the 2020 census, 13% of Rutland City households have no car and no access to a private vehicle, while another 42% only have access to one car per household. This means that an accessible public transportation system that works for the Rutland community is vital, said Ethan Pepin, transportation planner for the Rutland Regional Planning Commission.
“Oftentimes, when we’re thinking about transit, we’re not always thinking about folks … that are not able to drive a car, and so if that’s the primary way to get around, then those folks can lose a lot of independence,” said Pepin. “For them, The Bus is really an essential piece of infrastructure just to live their lives.”
The Bus is looking to scale back some routes by the new year while it eyes expansion in the future. But, with its red and white retro-pop design reminiscent of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, the fleet will still run to the vast majority of stops, said Ron Euber, operations supervisor for The Bus.
“We’re just trying to be a little more efficient with minimum impact,” said Euber.
Operated by the Marble Valley Transit District, The Bus is planning to consolidate Rutland City’s south and south extension routes and modify its hospital route, Pepin said. Previous plans had overlapping stops, so the change will maintain 97.5% of ridership while cutting 33% of the service and saving $100,000, he said.
Euber said he used his experience as a bus driver and working with The Bus for 17 years to help revise the suggested route to better meet Rutland’s needs.
The Bus and the Rutland Regional Planning Commission held a public meeting last week to seek input. The main concern was not with the consolidation but with the Bus’ service hours.
Rides are only available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and The Bus does not run on Sundays, but people can request a ride from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays. Still, these hours are too limited for people commuting to and from work, said Bannerman.
Michelle Hoffman, a social work supervisor at the hospital, echoed that concern while crediting The Bus for being free to the public — a benefit to patients and staff. She said The Bus has worked with the hospital on scheduling trips for employees on request during hours of operation.
Pepin said he hopes the savings from the consolidation could be put toward a micro-transit pilot program, versions of which already exist in both Middlebury and Montpelier. While in early phases of planning, the micro-transit model would allow people to request rides from The Bus through an app like Uber or Lyft. Pepin said that would help fill “gaps in the existing transit systems” and provide rides to people not served by the current schedule.
“We’re looking to try to optimize, as much as possible, our existing routes so we can try to expand service in the future,” said Pepin.
The Bus continues to offer a program to transport qualified Medicaid recipients on request. Through this program, people broker trips regularly, often to Burlington or Dartmouth hospitals and once even as far as Oklahoma, according to Euber.
Along with the normal routes and arranged trips, Euber said The Bus provides transportation for significant events at Killington Mountain Resort that have “touched a lot of people.” The Bus helps move about 40,000 people each year at the World Cup.
Through the program Everybody Rides, The Bus also partners with several community organizations in the Rutland area to provide seniors and people with disabilities with free trips upon request.
Diane Drake, executive director of Rutland Area Advocacy Resources Community, said the program is crucial to improving access to medical, professional, and social wellness opportunities for older adults with disabilities.
“Without them, our folks wouldn’t be able to get here, and they would be at a huge loss,” said Drake. “When you stop and think about people who do not have transportation readily available to them, and they’re isolated, and in some cases very, very lonely, and so when they don’t have access to transportation, those people are suffering.”
