|
|
 |
Home |
|
Welcome to Our New Home and to Our ... A Brief History of Public ... Recent History of the BRTA BRTA timeline A Quarter Century of Transporting ... Not Just the B Bus Why Ride the Bus? ARCHIVES |
|
November 17, 2004
  Articles on this page: • BRTA timeline BRTA timeline November 1932 - Motor buses start running along the Berkshire Street Railway trolley routes Summer 1959 - Yellow Coach Lines starts picking up lines discarded by the dying Berkshire Street Railway June 1963 - Yellow Coach starts operating a full schedule of buses throughout the County. November 1963 - Berkshire Street Railway buses stop running. The company declares bankruptcy. Late 1969 - Yellow Coach Lines files for bankruptcy. January 1970 - Dufour Brothers of Prospect, CT, take over 16 of Yellow Coaches route with 20 buses. 1971 - Bus service ends between Pittsfield, Lenox and Lee.
1972 - Pittsfield Councilman Peter G. Arlos files a petition to establish a five-person committee to create a federally funded transportation system. 1972 - Bus service ends between Pittsfield and Lanesboro. June 1974 - The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is formed after the state passes legislation enabling communities to form regional transit organizations. August 1974 - M. Michael Muzyka is named part-time administrator of the BRTA December 2, 1974 - First BRTA buses start rolling July 1975 - After five years of operating local bus service in the red, Dufour has abandoned all but the Elm Street-Tyler Street line, which is served with black and white striped mini-coaches. July 1975 - BRTA & Dufour reach an agreement on a contract to supply bus service to the Pittsfield area for a year. 1976 - BRTA purchases six 1975 model buses from Dufour September 1976 - Louis J. Perachi, Jr., a former bus driver for the Berkshire Street Railway and Yellow Coach Lines, is named the first full-time BRTA Administrator. February 1977 - B bus logo, designed by James McWilliams of the Hoosuck Community Resource Center, is adopted April 1977 - Three acre site in Pittsfield's Downing Park is selected for the BRTA bus terminal and Administration Building. Sites on Peck's Road and Valentine Road had also been considered. April 1977 - Taxi and van rides are made available to the elderly and disabled through the BRTA. 1977 - Ten hour service is offered for the first time on Saturdays during the weeks before Christmas. Shoppers are also offered free shuttle bus service between stores on Pittsfield's North Street. March 1978 - Ten new air conditioned blue, cream & orange buses with hydraulic "kneeling" systems arrive in the County from Flexible Corp in Delaware, Ohio.
1979 - BRTA serves Pittsfield and five other towns (Dalton, Hinsdale, Lee, Lenox & Lanesboro) in central County February 1979 - Overcrowding on buses is an issue March 1979 - Bids sought for construction of Downing Park facility May 1979 - Adams & North Adams vote to join the BRTA July 1979 - Non-holiday bus runs start on Saturdays September 1979 - Betnr Construction Co. of Dalton awarded contract to build BRTA facility in Downing Park October 1979 - Cheshire joins the BRTA 1980 - The BRTA fixed route service now includes 12 communities from Great Barrington to Williamstown. October 1980 - The new $1.6 million BRTA facility in Downing Park opens. 1980s - First feasibility study for an Intermodal Transportation Center in Pittsfield 1981 - BRTA purchases six buses with wheelchair lifts. Non-electric wheelchairs allowed to ride on the routes served by those buses. 1982 - BRTA management contract opened up to competitive bid. American Transit, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chromalloy American Corp, of St Louis, MO, wins the contract away from Dufour
August 1985 - Berkshire Cabulance replaces Uncle John's Vans as provider of BRTA services to the elderly and handicapped. 1988 - BRTA purchases (and repaints) a bus previously owned by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. At 40 feet long with seats for 49, including two wheelchairs, it is the largest bus in the BRTA fleet. September 1988 - Berkshire Mall opens and quickly becomes one of the most popular destinations on the BRTA route October 1988 - 17 bus shelters erected from Williamstown to Great Barrington September 1989 - Electric wheelchairs allowed on BRTA buses equipped to handle them. May 1990 - During a budget crisis, North Adams Mayor John Barrett offers BRTA $10,000 to continue bus routes in the Tunnel City October 1991 - The BRTA introduces a new Punch Pass system 1993 - Dianne Smith is named BRTA Administrator 1998 - With a grant acquired by Congressman John Olver, Smith embarks on a second feasibility study for an Intermodal Transportation Center in Pittsfield.
October 1, 1999 - Charles M. MacNeil is named BRTA Administrator while Dianne Smith stays on as Assistant Administrator. On MacNeil's first day on the job Congressman Olver calls to say that $3.6 million in federal funds have been earmarked for the Intermodal Center bringing the federal total to $8.2 million. 2001 - Dianne Smith retires from the BRTA. A consultant is hired and an advisory board starts meeting to help design and plan the Intermodal Center August 2002 - Ground is broken for the Intermodal Center November 2004 - The Intermodal Transportation Center, named in honor of late State Representative Joseph Scelsi, opens on Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield.
 RETURN TO TOP |
) ) |
|
|
