Nebraska Public Transit Week wraps up today for Chadron City Transit with Driver Appreciation Day. Director Julie Lawrence encourages everyone to take a ride and tell the driver how much their efforts are appreciated.
Yesterday was a free lunch to show appreciation for the Chadron community for their support of Chadron City Transit. Lawrence says more burgers were handed out yesterday than last year.
Although Nebraska Public Transit Week officially runs through tomorrow, Chadron City Transit will be closed – except for its educational service – because tomorrow is Arbor Day – a legal holiday in Nebraska.
Nebraska has 58 public transit providers with 52 of them in rural areas. The biggest of those is Alliance-based Open Plains Transit, which is operated by Senior Services Inc and offers intercity travel, local transit, non-emergency medical and medicaid trips
Director of Transportation Jonnie Kusek says Open Plains serves nearly the entire Panhandle and Cherry County with regular routes to Cheyenne, Rapid City, and the Pine Ridge Reservation. It took more than 7,200 passengers 238,000 miles last year.
Kusek says by working with the state other transit services in the region, they’re able to provide transportation to the airport and train station in Denver as well as a new route from Scottsbluff to Rapid City 4 days a week that will also stop in Hot Springs.
Julie Lawrence says Chadron City Transit has worked with Open Plains to get users to DIA and other locations on occasion, but continues to offer its own on-demand service to Rapid City.
Lawrence says since Chadron Transit’s Rapid City trips normally have just 1 rider, the driver is able to stay with them the entire time.
She also says Chadron is waiting for delivery of a transit van which will be able to make longer trips much more economically than its two buses.