Transit service provides Yates legislature with update

PENN YAN--The Yates Transit Service provided an update for the county legislature on their service vehicles and ridership numbers with a presentation by the Arc of Yates President and Chief Executive Officer Daniele Lyman-Torres Monday, Nov. 13.
Lyman said they have received three new buses in October. The new vehicles are equipped to handle riders with disabilities and also have bike racks.
The transit service started in January of this year with five standard routes. The routes travel round-trip from Penn Yan to Dundee, Dresden, Rushville, Naples and Geneva.
Lyman said a new route (Route 3 Limited) started in September traveling from Keuka College to Penn Yan has been especially popular. In just two months, 819 riders have used the service.
Some other routes have significantly less ridership. In fact, Lyman said the Dresden route is one of the areas they need to focus on in the fourth quarter. This route has the fewest riders.
Lyman said the county has been paid $86,904 through three quarters of 2017 from the state transportation department for the Yates transit service.
The New York State Department of Transportation distributes about $3.0 billion annually in Statewide Mass Transportation Operating Assistance (STOA), and other transportation assistance, to approximately 130 transit operators. New York state transit systems carry nearly one-third of the nation's transit riders and provide nearly one-quarter of transit services nationwide. Over the past five years statewide ridership has increased by about 13 percent; it is estimated that more than 70 percent of these trips are work related.
Lyman said they plan to work on recruiting more commercial driver bus operators and also increase revenue through advertising sales and community partnerships in 2018.