Letters to the Editor | Poughkeepsie shuttle expands service to students

Last week, The Miscellany News noted in News Briefs (4.3.08) the newly announced improvements to the Poughkeepsie shuttle, including two more stops and longer hours (until 8:00pm Monday-Wednesday, and until 10:00pm Thursday-Friday). As representatives of the Campus-Community Advisory Committee (CCAC), we want to briefly explain our group’s decision-making process.

To keep the shuttle on a reliable half-hour loop schedule, our choice of stops has to be very selective, especially to support students doing field work, internships, Community Service Work-Study, Community Action, and various volunteer efforts. At the same time, we want the shuttle to help students enjoy and get to know Poughkeepsie, from local restaurants, art galleries and entertainment to the Hudson River waterfront.

In fact, some of the most frequent comments we received during the initial weeks of the shuttle expressed a desire for stops at the train station and a grocery. After lengthy discussions in CCAC’s Transportation subcommittee and numerous test drives around downtown Poughkeepsie during the March break, we were very excited to find an expanded route that now makes both a train and grocery stop on every half-hour loop.

The new shuttle stop on upper Main Street is a one-block walk to the full-service Casa Latina grocery (651 Main Street), and in the other direction to a sizeable Rite-Aid pharmacy, as well as near great restaurants like El Bracero and Gino’s.

Safety is obviously a major factor in how we route the shuttle. As part of our improvements, we’ve created a new stop by city hall that replaces one where students felt less comfortable waiting.

Throughout this process, we've also had the Leprechaun bus company chart both the number of people riding the shuttle and the stops at which they get off. These numbers have been crucial to our discussions as we've tried to figure out the most effective route and schedule.

CCAC is very pleased by the growing use of the shuttle. The purpose of this spring semester trial period is to gauge need and interest for this kind of service and see how it’s used to help the College determine if this can be a cost-effective ongoing program.

Please sign the log when you ride so we can get a better a idea of how the shuttle is used. And keep your suggestions and comments coming so we have a wide range of input for decision-making.

—Jim Challey, Co-Chair, Campus-Community Advisory Committee; Jeff Kosmacher, Co-Chair, Campus-Community Advisory Committee; Andrew Meade, Chair, CCAC Transportation subcommittee