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November 17, 2004
  Articles on this page: • Not Just the B Bus Not Just the B Bus Most Berkshire County residents have no idea of the full range of services the Berkshire Regional Transportation Authority provides. The most obvious and visible service they provide is the fixed route service on the handsome blue buses, a service that can transport you from Williamstown to Great Barrington with stops in ten other communities along the way. And you don't need to be near a bus stop to hop on board. You can flag down a B bus anywhere along the route. "The buses require a lot of our blood, sweat, and tears for the half a million times a year people board them, but much of our efforts go to other services that have little to do with buses," said BRTA Administrator Charles "Chuck" MacNeil. Much of the BRTA's business is fixed route service, but considerable effort is also spent on the vital paratransit services. Last year alone they arranged for or subsidized 140,000 trips in what is called their paratransit service. This service takes many forms, but it basically ensures that no one who is unable to transport his or herself to necessary appointments and errands is left stranded. Dianne Smith, who served the BRTA from 1993-2001 as Administrator and Assistant Administrator, made the strengthening of the paratransit service a priority in her first 18 months in office. "In concert with an advisory group already in place we reviewed our Dial-a-Ride, demand response, and non-fixed route service. Then we found funding to add subsidized taxi and chair car service," Smith explained, "Within the first 18 months we accomplished quite a bit in terms of revising and implementing changes to help us serve a wider population." The BRTA works with the Councils on Aging in the Authorities 23 member communities to provide lift equipped vans and mini-buses to transport elders and the disabled to meal sites and therapeutic programs everyday.
"We also operate a human service transportation brokerage," MacNeil explained, "Two of our six administrative employees are dedicated to the brokerage. They field requests from customers of Medicaid, the Department of Mental Retardation, and the Department of Public Health, and work to cost effectively provide the services and schedule the trips with the local taxi companies, ambulance services, and bus companies with whom we have contracts. The brokerage scheduled 84,000 trips in the last year."
Another staff member manages all other non-bus trips. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the BRTA to provide transit for people who can't use buses. Last year the BRTA subsidized or scheduled 56,000 trips beyond what they provided through their brokerage service. "And we have plans to do even more in the future," MacNeil said, "We're working on accessing state and federal funding to get folks with mobility issues to second and third work shifts." So next time you see the B bus pass by, think also of all the people traveling safely throughout the county in taxis, vans, and cabulances through the good work of the BRTA.
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