The bus stops here

It’s just after 7:30 a.m. on a Monday morning, and Kim Goggin has just boarded the No. 8 at Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, swiped her bus pass, and taken her seat near the front of the bus. She tells another passenger of her troubles during the snowstorm last week.

“The buses were cancelled, but school wasn’t,” she says.

For Goggin, a 24-year-old from Wilkes-Barre, public transportation is not just her ride to school, it’s also her ticket toward a better life. Her car was totaled in an accident with an uninsured driver, and she only had liability coverage.

“It’s hard without a car,” she says. But for the past four months she’s been taking the bus to Allied Medical and Technical Institute in Forty Fort, where she’s more than halfway through the medical assistant program.

Goggin is hoping the diploma will give her an edge for a better paying job; after all, she has a 10-month old son to support. Thanks to rides from her mom and the Luzerne County Transportation Authority, she’s getting there.

The No. 8 got its start just after 6:30 a.m., and some of the first passengers are Luzerne residents Angelo Gurnary, 70, and Karen Aberant, 57. Both riders greet the bus driver and each other by name. Gurnary, a Navy veteran, is on his way to the VA Hospital, where he volunteers five days a week. Aberant takes the bus to her two jobs and for her errands.

“The higher the gas prices, the higher our ridership,” Glen Varver, an LCTA driver of nine years, says from behind the wheel.

The average cost for a gallon of gas in Pennsylvania at press time is $2.74, according to the AAA Fuel Gage Report. But it’s not just rising fuel costs. Many area residents, like Goggin, are temporarily without a car. With the credit crunch, a poor economy, unemployment, high insurance rates, and other costs related to owning a new or used car, obtaining a vehicle is not as affordable or feasible as days past.

As the No. 8 makes its way to Public Square, the conversations are about the weather, the river rising, the Olympics and the recent passing of a fellow rider. After a brief break at the Square, where Gurnary and Aberant exit, more passengers board for the trip back into the Swoyersville/Luzerne area, including Goggin and Kyle Fedor.

Fedor, 26, of Wilkes-Barre Twp., relies on public transportation because his driving privileges are currently suspended. He takes the No. 7 to Public Square, where he then transfers to the No. 8, which drops him off near his place of work in Forty Fort. Fedor enjoys the time alone on the bus to listen to music and explains the transitioning from driving to riding wasn’t a big deal.

“I didn’t get my license until I was 20 anyway, so I was always used to getting rides or walking. I don’t mind it,” Fedor says.

He explains the only obstacle is the waiting involved when a transfer doesn’t work out with perfect timing. However, his employer understands. Goggin feels his pain. Her classes don’t start until 8:30 a.m., but she arrives at Allied before 8. If she waited until the next bus, she’d be late. She saves homework for the morning so she has something to keep her busy until school starts.

As Goggin and a classmate exit the bus at the corner of Slocum and Murray streets in Forty Fort, Varver notes that he usually drops off more students at the school. Perhaps a Monday after a blizzard caused some winter blues?

Mass transit by the numbers

Three main bus lines — LCTA, County of Lackawanna Transit System and Hazleton Public Transit — bring mass transit to local residents.

Scranton was a pioneer in public transportation. The nation’s first electric streetcar system began in the city in 1886. Buses took over completely in 1954. Today, COLTS runs 26 direct routes with shuttle service to outlying areas. LCTA serves 31 municipalities on 16 direct routes. According to its Web site, 88 percent of county residents live within a quarter-mile of a bus stop. HPT operates nine routes between Hazleton and surrounding areas.

The Pennsylvania Public Transportation Annual Performance Report for the Fiscal Year 2007-08 stated the use of Commonwealth-supported public transportation increased 4 percent from 411 million trips in 2006-2007 to 428 million in 2007-2008. But since that report was released, gas prices dropped, and so did ridership. LCTA Executive Director Stanley Strelish says ridership in Luzerne County is down a percent or two.

“Ridership improved about 18 months ago because of the rising gas prices, but it has dropped slightly this year,” says Strelish. “The soft economy has curtailed the number of riders going to and from work.” He adds that gas prices are also down from a year ago.

The same is true for Lackawanna County, explains COLTS Executive Director Robert Fiume. He says the decline is not exclusive to NEPA but a nationwide trend.

Both directors say senior citizens make up the largest percentage of riders, but many professionals ride, too. Wilkes University English professor Mischelle Anthony doesn’t have to ride the bus, but she does. She leaves her Jetta at home and instead takes the No. 6 from Luzerne to Public Square and skips the available transfer so she can get some exercise walking two blocks to her office.

“I’m a populist at heart,” Anthony says. “I don’t want to live in a bubble and just see my same friends everyday. I want to see different types of people, and I see them on the bus every day.” She also likes to minimize driving to help the environment.

Bumps in the road, bumps in the night

Local passengers don’t always have a smooth ride with public transportation — if they can even access it.

T.J. Eltringham, campus director at McCann School of Business and Technology’s Dickson City campus, says a good portion of the 500 and growing students attending day and evening classes do not have their own transportation, but it’s difficult for students to use COLTS.

“It’s a real concern for us not to be a main stop,” says Eltringham. He explains the Shopper’s Special route takes riders to Wegman’s, but students must walk the rest of the way up state Route 6. Plus, the route does not coincide with early morning classes, causing a scheduling conflict for many. Some persistent students jump through hoops to make the bus work, though, he says.

While McCann coordinates a ride-share program to help its students, Eltringham says COLTS would benefit from a direct stop at the campus.

It’s information like that that Fiume is hoping to gain from a grant-funded route analysis from Clearview Strategies, a transit consulting firm. He says COLTS routes have not changed in more than a decade, but the area has — demographics changed, malls popped up, there’s more traffic, and therefore current routes may not be as efficient or timely as they once were. LCTA has the same concerns and also used Clearview for a study; Strelish says results and recommendations will be presented this spring.

Since 1999, COLTS has offered a limited evening shuttle service subcontracted through Northeast Transit. The Evening City Circle features two routes, a north and south, which run continuously from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. However, ridership is very low. Fiume says the service was not marketed well — mostly by word of mouth — but now that COLTS has a marketing communications department, getting the word out is a priority.

Bill Mercaeante has been driving the Evening City Circle North for six years, and he’s seen the decline firsthand. He used to pick up 15 or 16 people at a time at his hourly stops. That was until Dial America and Future Call closed and collection agencies and hospitals laid staff off.

“We used to be really busy, but then the do-not-call list pushed a lot of (business) out. That hurt a lot of our riders,” he says, adding a new Wal-Mart in Taylor could boost ridership.

Kathryn Mills, a 22-year-old Scranton resident, uses regular COLTS and both Evening City Circle routes everyday as she treks back and forth to Empire Beauty School in Moosic.

“This is the best thing ever. I just found out about it,” she says.

Until three weeks ago, Mills was walking from Moosic to Taylor to get a ride home. Now, she takes the regular COLTS bus to school. After class, she catches the Evening City Circle South and then transfers to the North to get home.

David Holland, 49, of Scranton, works at Target in Dickson City and used to walk an hour and 15 minutes to Scranton’s Hill Section to see his daughter and then walk home. Now, he takes the Evening City Circle.

“I feel more comfortable riding, and it’s a lot safer and protects me from the weather. I get home safe,” he says.

As he exits, the bus driver explains why Holland was repeating the word safe.

“Poor guy just got mugged. Knife to his throat,” says Mercaeante.

There is no evening service in Luzerne County.

“I know Wilkes-Barre is not New York City, but a lot of people would like to have night service,” says Goggin.

County carpool

LCTA, COLTS and HPT are hoping to be part of a PennDOT pilot program that would investigate funding opportunities for co-county transportation. Strelish says Luzerne and Lackawanna county commissioners and Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta agreed to submit a letter of interest.

“If we are chosen, (PennDOT) will come in and help us evaluate the regionalization,” says Strelish. “We do coordinate with COLTS and Hazleton already to a minimum.” He explains LCTA goes to Mountain Top, where riders can transfer to an HPT bus or to Old Forge to transfer to COLTS. “If we were to regionalize, we have the possibility to offer customers better service.”

Strelish does not foresee regionalization cutting down on the workforce among any of the agencies. Fiume, who spent eight years as director of HPT, agrees this study could improve services for all the NEPA companies.

Anthony, the Wilkes professor, would be very receptive to riding a bus to Scranton. When she moved to the Wilkes-Barre area and heard her new friends talk about how “far” away Scranton is, she laughed. Where she grew up in Oklahoma, you had to drive 20 minutes to get anywhere, she told them.

“But, that’s me now. I barely go to Scranton. So, that would be fabulous!” she says.

Fedor says co-county transportation would be a great service to the community and would open up more job opportunities for people like him, people who cannot drive.

Give it a fare shot

Anthony is a shining example of a regular citizen taking advantage of public transportation.

“I love it. The drivers are all so kind and helpful, and they know their passengers,” Anthony says. “It’s more like a carpool than a bus in a lot of ways.” She adds she is closing on a house in Wilkes-Barre next month and will miss the No. 6. “I’ve made some great friends and love the consignment shops in Luzerne, so I’ll take it to visit.”

Strelish encourages everyone to use public transportation.

“Just try it,” he says. “You may be pleasantly surprised. The top reason is the amount of money you’ll save from using your car, but you’ll see the convenience in it. Sit on the bus and relax for 15 minutes. It’s good for mind relaxation; read the paper or a book. …”

Fiume adds, “It’s safe, reliable, and you don’t have to go through the hassle of parking — paying for it and finding it — and in the winter, cleaning off your car. It’s also good for the environment, less pollution and traffic congestion. So, it is a little bit social. It’s a little bit economy. It’s a little bit convenience.”

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