Tribal Transit puts buses where they need to be
Available and accessible public transportation is integral to the quality of life in any community regardless of size and location.
Available and accessible public transportation is integral to the quality of life in any community regardless of size and location.
The goal of the APTA International Roadeo is to provide the most equitable competition possible to showcase and encourage the highest degree of professionalism in bus operators and mechanics.
Intercity Transit, a mid-size, community-minded agency operating in Olympia-Thurston County, WA, has created a bright spot for people in need during this bleak economy.
Already sold on the low-floor concept, transit agencies in Lubbock, TX, and Holland, MI, have adopted the ARBOC Spirit of Mobility as their preferred paratransit vehicle. These agencies say their passengers appreciate the low-floor design because it allows them greater control of their transit experience.
Alfred Lomas is on the other side of some tough going. It started 35 years ago at age 12 with his “jump-in” initiation into the Florencia 13, a nearly unavoidable move considering his neighborhood that ensnared him in the world of violence and drugs that forever dogs street gang members.
Twelve years ago, sign-painter-turned- illusionist, Stan Mitts, reconfigured his first transit bus into a trolley for Jackson Transit, Jackson, MI. Painting on blank white siding using traditional brush and airbrush techniques, Mitts created the appearance of wood paneling and traditional trolley detailing with pin striping, scrolls and custom lettering. The Bluebird bus underneath did not change in any way but lent the appearance of a trolley car with all the trimmings.
The Utah Parks Company, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad, operated restaurants, lodging, and bus tours in Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon and Cedar Breaks parks from 1923 to 1973. Operating as a concessionaire of the National Park Service, the company operated from its base in Cedar City, UT. The company bus tours connected with Union Pacific trains there and offered a loop tour of the parks and monuments in this region.
Asked how he fared through the worst of the recession, Ray Land says his customers have been struggling. Asked what he has done to keep his company solvent through tough times of late, he says he diversified to offer an alternative that would neither devalue his top-tier brand nor demean a certain cross section of his clientele.
Motorcoach financers remind operators to take time to reflect the hard times they have just been through and understand the game has changed. They say money is available, but the path ahead demands sound basic business with accountability like they have never seen. Credit processes are much more stringent than before.