Big changes are on the way for Lackawanna County's bus system. Thursday night, officials met at the Scranton Cultural Center to talk about what's next.
Last year, officials said, two million people used the County of Lackawanna Transportation System. Gary Anderson was one of them. He lives in Carbondale and works in downtown Scranton. He relies on the COLTS buses to get to and from work, and he wishes for more buses later in the evening.
"It's hard. I've been losing hours because I don't have a way home, or I don't have a way to Scranton. The last bus to Scranton is at 4:45 p.m.." Anderson said.
COLTS officials said for the first time in 15 years, they are making some major changes to the routes. First they are looking for feedback from riders about the bus routes. Changes could start this spring.
Through a $75,000 grant from PennDOT, COLTS was able to hire a company to study the area and its transit needs.
Lynn Colosi, of Clearview Strategies in Pittsburgh, said COLTS can be made more efficient and enable more people to work and spend money in the county. "While the city of Scranton has lost a lot of people, Lackawanna County hasn't," said Colosi. "So what that tells us is that people are moving out into the suburbs and into the rural areas, and development is occurring in those places."
Early goals are to create more routes to high commerce areas like Dickson City. Making those routes more punctual is on the wish list too.
COLTS rider Sandy Cerra said, "When there's construction, it runs behind. There are times when I've waited for an hour for a bus, when it should have been every half hour."
"Routes that may have run on time ten years ago, may be running behind now so that's another way of improving our service, by being on time," said COLTS Executive Director Bob Fiume.
Officials said they will hold public hearings in the coming months.
Last year, officials said, two million people used the County of Lackawanna Transportation System. Gary Anderson was one of them. He lives in Carbondale and works in downtown Scranton. He relies on the COLTS buses to get to and from work, and he wishes for more buses later in the evening.
"It's hard. I've been losing hours because I don't have a way home, or I don't have a way to Scranton. The last bus to Scranton is at 4:45 p.m.." Anderson said.
COLTS officials said for the first time in 15 years, they are making some major changes to the routes. First they are looking for feedback from riders about the bus routes. Changes could start this spring.
Through a $75,000 grant from PennDOT, COLTS was able to hire a company to study the area and its transit needs.
Lynn Colosi, of Clearview Strategies in Pittsburgh, said COLTS can be made more efficient and enable more people to work and spend money in the county. "While the city of Scranton has lost a lot of people, Lackawanna County hasn't," said Colosi. "So what that tells us is that people are moving out into the suburbs and into the rural areas, and development is occurring in those places."
Early goals are to create more routes to high commerce areas like Dickson City. Making those routes more punctual is on the wish list too.
COLTS rider Sandy Cerra said, "When there's construction, it runs behind. There are times when I've waited for an hour for a bus, when it should have been every half hour."
"Routes that may have run on time ten years ago, may be running behind now so that's another way of improving our service, by being on time," said COLTS Executive Director Bob Fiume.
Officials said they will hold public hearings in the coming months.
