Claremont
The hope — and it’s long been sought by Sullivan County transit advocates — is to provide bus service for workers and patients from the Claremont area to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and other key employers in Lebanon.
“We are taking the idea and trying to run with it,” said Keith Thibault, chief development officer with Southwestern Community Services. “We know there is a need and the region would benefit from it.”
In October 2016, SCS began operating the public bus service that was shut down a month earlier by the previous operator, the Community Alliance of Sullivan County, for financial reasons. Since then, Thibault said, SCS has been able to stabilize the operation thanks in part to financial commitments from the three towns it serves and from Sullivan County coffers. Those donations have allowed SCS to obtain federal matching grants.
“I am happy to report after two full years, the operation is very stable,” Thibault said.
With a fleet of seven buses — a new bus will be delivered at the first of the year — and a crew of 12 drivers, Thibault said they have seen an increase in ridership over roughly 15 percent the last year.
Contributions from the county ($50,000), Claremont ($25,000), Newport ($10,000) and Charlestown ($14,000) have given the bus service the financial shot in the arm it needed to become sustainable, Thibault said.
Now SCS is working on a route to Lebanon that has been discussed for several years. In 2014, the Legislature approved a bill authorizing public transportation between Claremont and Lebanon but there was no appropriation included. And in the ensuing four years, funding for the service has not been included in the state budgets.
State Rep. John Cloutier, D- Claremont, a co-sponsor of the 2014 legislation, said at the time a combination of federal, private and possibly local funding would be needed to sustain the service along the Route 120 corridor.
The funding mix remains the challenge today, Thibault said. He estimated that the annual cost to have three round trips a day would be $150,000. Southwestern applied for a grant with the Northern Border Regional Commission but was denied because operating expenses are not eligible under the grant guidelines, Thibault said.
Cloutier anticipates that with the Democrats now in the majority in both the House and Senate following the November elections, the issue of funding public transportation, including bus and rail service, will become more of a priority than it was under Republican leadership.
“I am open to pushing for money for a Route 120 bus service,” Cloutier said on Saturday. “I would certainly want to pursue it in the next session and do what I can to have the service in place by 2020.”
Cloutier said a reliable and affordable service would attract not just those who cannot drive to appointments but shoppers and employees who work in the Lebanon area.
Thibault said Southwestern has a volunteer driver program and most trips are for patient appointments to DHMC. However, there also are a fair number of workers on their way to jobs at DHMC as well, he said.
“This is an economic issue as well,” Thibault said. “We are working hard to do this and will keep beating the bushes (looking for funding).”
Officials at DHMC also have made clear in the past that a shortage of affordable workforce housing for employees in the heart of the Upper Valley is a concern, so that could also spur interest in a commuter bus serving Sullivan County communities with lower housing costs.
One potential funding source would be through the state Department of Transportation.
“If we can show that the ridership need is there, it is my understanding DOT would have access to some federal funding,” Thibault said.
Former state Rep. Ray Gagnon, who until this month served on the SCS Board of Directors and was actively involved in getting the City Council to contribute to the local service, said it is important that people not view it as “poor people transportation.”
He said there are hundreds of people in the Claremont and Charlestown area that work first shifts at DHMC and Hypertherm.
“It is not for poor people, but is a community service,” Gagnon said. “I think there is a real need and would be a boon to the region. There are all kinds of reasons to do this.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
