Warwick's Dial A Bus celebrates 20 years by expanding service

Latest bus will take riders to Town of Wallkill shopping areas Warwick — Success comes to those who persist. Riders of the town’s Dial A Bus transportation can now ride to the Town of Wallkill beginning Monday, April 23. This service will include stops at Crystal Run Health Care, the Galleria Mall, and the Dunning Road Plaza. A new 28-passenger bus has been added to the town’s 10-bus fleet. This bus was leased from the county with a 10 percent town contribution of $9,000; it has double the capacity of standard buses. Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton recently looked back on the town’s history with the Dial A Bus service, a program that has grown tremendously since its inception over 20 years ago. According to Sweeton’s research: Local bus service began in the Town of Warwick in 1986 when two 12-passenger buses were leased from the county and went into service under a contract with Florida Taxi. In the first year, ridership stood at 2,815 passengers. After that year, the town decided to operate the service themselves and never looked back. Today, 20 years later, ridership stands at 31,623 passengers - an increase of 1,023 percent. The first expansion was orchestrated by then-Councilman Anthony Portelli, who worked with the Village of Warwick and the downtown merchants. Together, they instituted Saturday and Sunday fixed routes within the Village of Warwick. This was a rousing success, providing new-found mobility to those unable to drive, in addition to the welcome business it provided to local shops. Former village Mayor Frank Lacalamita and former Supervisor Tony Houston, as well as their respective boards, continued to support the service with the vital funding necessary to keep the buses rolling. By 2000, ridership reached 13,959, but a new crisis hit the area with the closing of supermarkets in the villages of Warwick and Greenwood Lake. In order to increase service to the only remaining supermarket in the town, new buses would be necessary. In addition, many riders expressed interest in traveling to other sections of the county. Under current municipal policy at the time, one town’s buses could not travel within another town without that town’s permission. In 2002, the current Town Board worked with County Legislators Michael Pillmeier and Ben Winstanley to secure two new buses for this expanded service. In addition, Sweeton secured an agreement with the Town of Goshen to allow bus service to Orange Regional Medical Center’s Arden Hill campus and a connection stop to the county trolley bus. The success of this fixed route service outside the town quickly led to expansion to other municipalities. In 2003 routes were established to Blooming Grove, Washingtonville, Monroe and Woodbury. In 2004, Operation Wheels, run by the Warwick Ecumenical Council, was faced with a fiscal crisis that ended its bus runs to the Town of Wallkill for good. Many seniors were left without the transportation that they had relied upon from Operation Wheels since 1982. Sharon Lisberg, the town’s transportation manager, expanded runs to similar services in Monroe to accommodate Operation Wheels passengers. Simultaneously, the Town Board began to work with Wallkill to get permission to enter that town and also pursued obtaining a larger bus from the county for the anticipated expanded route. Fares continue to be $1 each way and $.50 for senior citizens. For more information about Dial A Bus services, call 986-2877.