I’d never ridden an Advance Transit bus before, and neither had many of my senior companions during a recent travel training session held at the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction.
“So you want to get lost, too?” Beverly Blanchard, 80, of Wilder, asked, greeting me as I sat at her table.
Paige Heverly, energy and transportation project coordinator for the nonprofit Vital Communities, handed out folders full of colorful bus schedules and routes. The information made my mind spin, which I’m told is common at first.
Not only do people need to know where the stops are, Heverly told the dozen or so senior citizens who signed up for training — they also need to feel comfortable using the system.
“Don’t be afraid to ask drivers any questions,” Heverly advised before she explain the bus routes and fielded questions. “There are always plans (to expand services), but there’s almost never any funding. … There’s always something that they wish they could do.”
Advance Transit provides free transportation five days a week at dozens of stops in Wilder, White River Junction, Hartford Village Norwich, Lebanon, West Lebanon and Hanover.
You need to know what to look for, Heverly said, because “a lot of times you don’t know that it’s a stop.” While some bus stops have shelters to help identify them, others are identifiable by only a small sign on a tall pole.
The group gathered at a stop outside Bugbee, ready for the hands-on portion of the training that would take them up Route 10 in West Lebanon to Dartmouth College and back. There was an air of excitement, like riding the bus on the first day of school.
“I get around with friends and neighbors for shopping and stuff,” Blanchard said, adding that she wants to be able to get from her home to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. “I don’t like that (Route) 120.”
The training was Blanchard’s first experience with Advance Transit. She wants to start using a stop closer to her home.
“It’s all green to me,” she said.
As the bus went to different stops, members of the group made it a goal to point out the signs to one another. Their wariness started to fade, and as if everyone was thinking, “Of course I can do this.”
Senior citizens who no longer drive, especially those who live in more rural areas, face issues accessing transportation. Following a bus schedule can seem like a restriction of independence.
But during my time on our bus field trip, I started to see it another way: the restoration of independence. On the bus, members of the group spoke with other riders, who shared tips about using AT. Blanchard, sitting across from me, talkspoke with a Dartmouth College student on his way to campus.
It was a chance to socialize and to meet new people.
“I think it’s great,” Blanchard said as the training concluded. “Before I was afraid to take the bus and now I’m not.”
Editor’s note: For more information about the travel training program at Vital Communities, visit vitalcommunities.org or call 802-291-9100. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
