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| Volume 18, Issue 3 | Summer 2006 |
Standing Rock Public TransportationSitting Bull College has administered the Standing Rock Public Transportation Program on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation for more than 17 years. The college and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe provide local matching funds for the transportation program. Our transit system represents the only source of mobility for a significant number of tribal members and non-tribal neighbors to go to work, school, vocational rehabilitation, and health and social service appointments. The current transit capacity of our system is 76 passengers through the use of one 2002 24-passenger bus, one 1998 23-passenger bus, one 2006 12-passenger van, and one 2002 17-passenger bus. A 2000 12-passenger van with a lift and capacity for three chairs is utilized as needed. All vehicles have two-way radios, and each driver has a cellular phone, voice mail and e-mail, which are used to communicate the needs of the passengers. The service area for the Standing Rock Public Transportation System is the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which encompasses two states, North Dakota and South Dakota and four counties, Walworth and Corson in South Dakota and Sioux and Morton in North Dakota. The Standing Rock Public Transportation Program provides the following services:
From July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 the program operated an estimated 240 days covering approximately 168,000 miles, and provided approximately 7,100 one-way rides. Human resources for the project include: 1) three full-time bus drivers, each responsible for two daily one-way routes; 2) one full-time bus driver/coordinator who is responsible for two daily one-way routes and supervision of the drivers, routes and vehicles; 3) one part-time bus driver who will drive in the absence of the full-time drivers; and 4) one project director (50% time) who is responsible for the overall supervision of the drivers, routes and vehicles, dispatch, and performs all grants management and reporting requirements. We are excited to have recently received funding approval from the North Dakota Department of Transportation to implement a feeder Interliner Service from Mobridge, SD, to Bismarck, ND. This service will be accomplished by coordinating with Jefferson Lines of Minneapolis, MN; River Cities Transit of Pierre, SD; and Bis-Man Transit and Rimrock Coaches in Bismarck, ND. The intent of the Interliner Service is to transport passengers to and from Rapid City, SD, and Bismarck. Currently, these services are only available from Bismarck (depart at 3:40 a.m.), to Billings, MT (13 hour layover) to Gillette, WY (1 hour 45 minute layover), to Rapid City for a total trip time of 30 hours. Additional plans to further expand our services include providing non-emergency medical referral services for Indian Health Service, Mobridge Hospital in Mobridge and West Central Health Services in McLaughlin, SD, to Bismarck medical facilities. Lastly, another recent achievement is the approval of a Federal Transit Administration 5309 grant to plan and construct a transit center. The construction documents for the 5100 square-foot facility have been released and bid openings are scheduled for July 25th. We anticipate the construction to be completed by the end of this year.
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