It’s also the 30th anniversary of having a bus
You may have seen the Town of Highlands Dial-A-Bus out and about on Monday morning. Did you notice anything different?
You should have! While it may have looked pretty much the same as usual on the outside, it was actually a brand new bus, out for it’s first day on the road.
The new bus was put into service 29 years and 363 days after the town joined in on the Dial-A-Bus program. In other words, they rolled out the new bus Monday, and Wednesday, celebrated 30 years of local transportation service for the community.
The first rider on the new bus was Fort Montgomery’s Tania Miller. Miller, 79, takes the bus to and from West Point’s Visitor’s Center every morning and afternoon, there she catches the West Point shuttle to her office on post.
That’s interesting, because back in 1989 when the town first got a Dial-A-Bus, Miller’s son-in-law, Greg Ripa, was on the Town Board, under supervisor Joe McCormick, and they “worked so hard to get the bus for us,” Miller said Monday.
She’s a huge proponent of the bus, urging her fellow senior citizens to use it.
It must be working, because along with bus manager Colleen Solan and driver Debbie McCabe, ridership is up, with about 26 people a day regularly using the bus.
It stays in the Town of Highlands Monday through Friday, and then leaves town for shopping trips on Saturdays. Rides are inexpensive — $1 for most, but 50 cents for seniors — and by reservation only.
Solan has been managing the bus for ten years, and this is the second bus she’s overseen the receipt of. Monday morning, after McCabe picked up Miller, they were all three thrilled with the new vehicle, noting safety improvements on it, the quiet and smooth ride, and a lower step to climb onto the bus with. The bus is wheelchair accessible.
McCabe has been driving the 14-seat bus full-time since 2016, but part-time since 2005.
“They are great,” Miller said of the team of McCabe and Solan, and praised Supervisor Bob Livsey and the Town Board, too, for getting a new bus.
“These people put their heart into what they do, and it shows,” she said.
Call 845-446-RIDE (7433) between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Reservations must be made 24 hours in advance.
As an aside to this story, Solan noted she is always looking for ‘on call part-time drivers’ for the bus — anyone applying must have a CDL with a ‘P’ endorsement.
