The Capital District Transportation Authority expanded its service northward into Warren County a year ago. According to riders and officials, things have been running smoothly, with more changes to come.
The CDTA took over seven transit routes last year, offering service to Glens Falls, Lake George, Hudson Falls, and Fort Edward. It merged with Greater Glens Falls Transit after helping the struggling service through staffing shortages and the pandemic.
The only major difference is the CDTA’s signature blue and gold buses. Communications Director Jaime Kazlo says that’s on purpose.
“It was our goal to not make a lot of changes right out of the gate because we did not want customers to have to go through CDTA taking over Great Glens Falls Transit and then having new routes and new schedules and that sort of thing. So, we kept everything pretty much status quo when we took over,” said Kazlo.
Kazlo says slowly but surely CDTA has made some upgrades under the hood.
“Prior to CDTA coming on board, the ridership counts and different programs were not automated. So, that is something that we started to do in the summer of last year – we started to install fare boxes so we could start to get a more accurate count of ridership in the area,” said Kazlo.
Kazlo says with just one year of operating data and experience, CDTA isn’t ready to publicly share ridership numbers, but it’s steady.
Sydney Collins is mostly home-bound with an injured hip, but she had been taking the bus several times a week.
“Since CDTA took over the routes are great. There’s a lot of bussing and it’s just pretty convenient,” said Collins.
CDTA hasn’t changed any of the bus lines, but it has added 200 stops along with more consistent service.
“The buses run like every hour and they pretty much go just about anywhere out here. So, you know, all the way to Lake George even. And then in the summertime it’s great because you get to use the trolleys and those run like every half-an-hour and they go all the way up to Bolton Landing. So, it’s nice,” said Collins.
Victoria Portillo has been working at the consignment shop Finders Keepers downtown for three years. She relies on CDTA buses to get between her home and her two jobs.
“In the morning I’m at Finders Keepers and at night I work at Dave’s Hot Chicken in Queensbury. So, most times I have to get here and then immediately get there,” said Portillo.
She says she hasn’t noticed many changes in service that impact her commute, but she’d like to see some improvements in the coming year.
“I’d like to maybe see it be a little bit later at night or maybe even a little bit earlier in the morning. That’d be cool too. At night it’s hard because most places downtown close at 6, so, when I’m closing the store I have to close as quickly as possible and run over there to the bus station to catch the last bus to my night job which is a hassle but I get there most days,” said Portillo.
Kazlo says there are already some changes under consideration.
“That’s one of the things that we are looking into as we start to asses if any changes need to be made when we are collecting this data,” said Kazlo. “Do time points need to change, should the span of frequency be longer during the day, should certain routes run more frequently?”
Matthew Shaw has been driving for CDTA for two years, transferring from Albany to Glens Falls six months ago. He says his passengers have appreciated more consistent schedules.
“It’s night and day. They call Glens Falls Mayberry and it really is. I mean I pick up the same passengers every day and it’s like clockwork, you know everybody. I was driving a 60-foot Arctic and I mean it was standing room only at times. So, it’s definitely a little bit more relaxed here, less stressful,” said Shaw.
Democratic Mayor Bill Collins, who is running for reelection this year, lauds the merger with CDTA as an example of region-wide collaboration.
“There was no real connection to the Capital District. You couldn’t get a bus—the farthest we went south was South Glens Falls. And so, you had to get off a bus and wait, hopefully, for one to stop so you could get a ride to Albany or Saratoga. And so, I think it is fantastic,” said Collins.
CDTA announced Thursday it would hold a public hearing January 30th for proposed fare increases in Warren County. The hearing is set for 6 p.m. at Crandall Public Library.
