WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-New Link Between Burlington and Montpelier

New Link Between Burlington and Montpelier

Richmond, Vermont - September 22, 2003

Joan Stasulis lives in Chittenden County, but works in Montpelier. It's a long commute, one that can cost her thousands of dollars a year in gas as well as wear and tear on her car.

So Joan is trying to make it to Montpelier without her car, by taking the Link Express, a new bus service offered by the Chittenden County Transit Authority.

"I was with a van pool," Stasulis remembers, "and the times didn't work for me, so I enjoy the fact that there's two runs a day, so if I, because of work, miss the first one, then I can I can pick up the second one."

Among the state workers paying their $3 to take the maiden voyage of the new bus service was Governor Jim Douglas. Douglas normally drives to work from Middlebury, but rode the bus on Monday in an attempt to draw attention to what he sees as a vital new service.

"This is a time when we're encouraging public transportation," Douglas says. "And I think it's something many employees will find very attractive."

The Link Express travels from Montpelier to Burlington and Burlington to Montpelier twice in the morning and twice in the evening. It's the latest effort by the CCTA to get commuters out of their cars.

"Ideally, when the bus is been running for a while, we anticipate about 16 passengers per trip," CCTA Executive Director Chris Cole says. "That is what, demographically, this market should produce, in looking at the census data and how many people commute from Washington County to Chittenden County and vice versa. We estimate about 16 passengers."

According to that Census 2000 data, more than 1,800 people commute from Chittenden county to Washington County each day. In return, 2,800 make the trip from Washington to Chittenden.

The service is made possible by a $200,000 federal grant spread out over three years, which averages out to a $2 subsidy per passenger, per trip.

"It operates at a loss," Cole concedes. "But it's a necessary service, this is a service that, as this service grows, and as it's here for a while, folks who live in Washington County are going to be able to apply for jobs in Chittenden County, and it's opening up a whole new job market for this area here, so it's going to provide a range of mobility that Vermonters haven't had before."

MarkBosma - Channel 3 News