Sullivan launches public bus service

MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County officials gathered for a news conference on August 12 to announce a new public bus service between Monticello, Fallsburg and Liberty with stops at Catskill Regional Medical Center and Sullivan County Community College.

County staff have been working on the route for about a year, and the first bus is set to roll on August 19. The service is meant to help people get to their jobs and other places.

“This is something that the county has worked very hard on, and it’s a great indicator of the changes that are going on in Sullivan County,” legislator Ira Steingart said. “Workforce is very important to the growth of the county and people being able to get to their jobs. Many people in the county don’t have transportation. I think this is going to help the employer and employee.” He added that it will also help seniors.

Many at the press conference thanked Laura Quigley for her role in getting the program up and running. Quigley is the long-time director of the Center for Workforce Development.

Legislator Alan Sorenson noted that the county motto is “Mountains of Opportunities.”

“But if you can’t get to work or the community college you can’t take advantage of those opportunities,” he said. Sorenson noted that round-trip taxi fare from Monticello to the college is about $20. With the new bus route, the round-trip cost will be $4.

The county already provides some bus service to seniors, veterans and some people who are served by social services, but this bus service will be open to anyone with the $2 to pay for a ticket.

The $2 price will begin in January 2020 and the service will be free for the remainder of this year. There are two routes. Route A will run an express route from 5:30 through 7:30 a.m. and local routes from 7:30 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. Route B will run an express route from 6 to 7:45 a.m., and local from 8:45 a.m. through 5:45 p.m.

Phil Vallone of Rolling V, the company that won the contract to operate the busses, said there will be a stop at each location on the routes about once an hour.