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| Volume 17, Issue 1 | Spring 2005 |
NDDOT Report Burce Fuchs, CTPATransit Program Director For those of you in North Dakota, this is a reminder to contact me regarding the bus to EXPO in St. Louis. We are scheduled to leave Bismarck Saturday morning, May 21, and arrive in St. Louis on Sunday evening. We would need to spend one night at a hotel about half way there. For the return trip we would leave St. Louis on Friday morning, May 27, and arrive in Bismarck on Saturday evening; again with one overnight someplace. We would make stops along I-94 and I-29 to pick-up and discharge passengers. I did some checking and we have a decided lack of certified transit managers in ND. We have only one person certified by the University of Wisconsin and NONE by the most common certification agency in the country. I would encourage all managers to pursue a Certified Community Transit Manager (CCTM) designation and I will even participate in the expenses involved. Get more information on the CTAA website and remember that the classes you take in St. Louis count toward the certification. Because of the expense involved with the test, I will need some advance notice before anyone signs up to take it. For those of you who have not followed through with the picture ID badges and uniforms it is time for you to contact me so we can work something out. It is in our best interest to become more professional, an easy first step is in our appearance. The items I have addressed above: training, certification, ID badges, and uniforms will be constantly on my mind and should also be on yours. REMEMBER: being a professional is a state of mind and the mind needs DAILY exercise. Feeders for Intercity Buses Bruce Lindholm, SDDOTThe loss of Greyhound Bus Lines service to South and North Dakota should reveal to everyone the fragile economic realities of intercity bus service. The deregulation of the airlines and increasing use of private vehicles has been very hard on intercity bus companies. Still, there is a segment of the population that either cannot afford to fly or prefers not to. Many of these people do not have access to reliable private vehicles or simply are not comfortable driving long distances. In addition, bus service covers a much bigger geographic area than air service. In other words, you can get closer to your destination rather than being dropped off at a regional airport, an important consideration for some people. So, what does this have to do with transit? As some of you know, Jefferson Lines likes to use public transit agencies as "feeders." This service is allowed under 5311(f) "planning and marketing for intercity bus transportation ...and coordination of rural connections between small transit operations and intercity bus carriers." If your transit agency is located in a town that does not have intercity bus service and is reasonably close to the route of an intercity bus carrier; I strongly urge you to contact the bus carrier to see what you can work out. Jefferson Lines pays mileage to the transit agency and also pays commission on ticket sales because the transit agency becomes an agent for Jefferson Lines. It's a good deal for all involved. The intercity bus lines are like any other business - if they do not have customers, they go out of business or restructure to somewhere they can make money. We have seen this with Greyhound and Jackrabbit. Let's do what we can to get those passengers to the bus lines and help keep this important transportation option available. 
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