Claremont
Southwestern Community Services, or SCS, said it would operate the routes with assistance from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, but that there likely would be a few-week gap in service as it takes over a system that had been run by Newport-based Community Alliance Transportation Services, which discontinued operations on Friday because it was running a deficit.
“The goals are to get the system back up and running as soon as possible. There’s obviously going to be a gap. We’re hoping to minimize it,” Southwestern Chief Executive Officer John Manning said. “We recognize how important transportation is to the community … (Many of our) customers don’t have cars. It’s a critical need for them to get around, to get to jobs.”
DOT officials said the contract with Southwestern will run through June 2017, the end of the current fiscal year, but said exact funding and other contract details still were being worked out.
The routes and service would be the same, and drivers have been asked if they want to continue, with final hiring decisions to be made by SCS.
The DOT “is committed to working with SCS through this transition with operational and management support in order to maintain these important transportation options for the region,” DOT Commissioner Victoria Sheehan said in a news release.
Funding will come from the Federal Transit Administration, matched by local funding, the DOT said.
Sullivan County officials, as well as Newport and Charlestown, have provided funding for the bus service — to the tune of $25,000, $5,000 and $14,000, respectively — but financial support from Claremont has been lacking.
At a special Claremont City Council meeting on Friday night, the council voted, 8-0, to send a letter of support for the new arrangement.
No dollar amount was proposed as the council agreed it was premature to make a financial commitment until it has a clearer understanding of the business model SCS is developing.
“Now is not the time to talk dollars and cents,” Mayor Charlene Lovett said. “It is important to get a consensus and craft a letter that verbalizes support to SCS.”
City Manager Guy Santagate expressed support for the service, but in order to see that it is sustainable, he thought it would be wise to do a “postmortem” on the failed Community Alliance program and examine why it could not sustain the service.
“Something went wrong,” he said. “There were no warning signs.”
Sullivan County officials were pleased by news the bus service would continue.
“I know there is more work to be done, and the county looks forward to working with SCS and other community organizations to sustain public transportation in our rural area,” County Manager Jessie Levine said.
“That’s great news,” Charlestown administrative assistant David Edkins added. “A lot of people in Charlestown rely on that service to get back and forth for medical appointments and shopping in Claremont, and it was a real blow to hear it might be discontinued.”
Both Levine and Edkins serve on the board of SCS, the Keene-based community action agency serving Sullivan and Cheshire counties. SCS has a major presence in Claremont, running some homeless shelters and WIC clinics, among other services. It also offers energy programs, fuel and electric assistance, and senior housing in its service territory.
Claremont resident Katherine Cheney, a regular passenger, was more than pleased to hear her bus service would continue.
“Oh, hallelujah,” she said, when notified by a reporter. “It gets me out to get my groceries and doctor appointments, that sort of stuff.”
Gianna Gregorutti, a 77-year-old Newport resident who has been driving a bus route for two decades, also was hopeful.
“I just have to wait and see if they are going to call me. I’d like to go back,” she said.
After she finished her shift on Friday, Gregorutti dropped the bus off at a DOT depot in Enfield for safekeeping until SCS takes over the routes.
Manning, the SCS CEO, said his group wants to rehire bus drivers and dispatchers.
“The initial goal here is, as soon as possible, to get it back up and running with as little change as possible, then we can see what we can do to make it better,” he said.
DOT said service is expected to resume in October.
Manning said that funding from Claremont, or groups there, is important to the service’s future.
“Newport and Charlestown support it (financially), Claremont doesn’t. That’s a choice from the past, and I would hope moving forward they would be willing to work with us, hopefully with financial support or at least in finding new sources of revenue,” Manning said.
“We don’t have a pot of money we can use to help subsidize this. This has to work on its own,” he said.
Correspondent Patrick O’Grady contributed to this report. News staff writer John Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com.