Although there are plenty
of car-driving, mobile citizens
in southern Saratoga County,
those without transportation
are clearly at a disadvantage.
And while most agree a
public transportation system
for the area would be an
asset, some don't see it hap¬
pening any time soon.
Clifton Park Supervisor
Phil Barrett and Halfmoon
Supervisor Ken DeCerce
both agree that the need for
CDTA-like system in their
towns simply isn't warranted
at the present time.
Those who are pushing for
public transportation sooner
rather than later offer a wide
variety of solutions.
"What we need to work on
is, how do we come up with
something less traditional,"
said CAPTAIN Executive
Director Bill Casey.
Casey said he is working
with the Mechanicville Com¬
munity Center to ease trans¬
portation problems for those
with financial difficulties in
the area.
Like CAPTAIN, which
serves teens and families in
Malta, Clifton Park and Half¬
moon, Casey said the key to
bringing better public trans¬
portation to the area is unit¬
ing communities.
"The problem affects sev¬
eral towns, so they need to
join together to fix it," he
said.
And he hasn't given up
hope on attracting CDTA to
southern Saratoga County.
"They're a reasonable
group of people," he said.
Donna Suhr of the Capital
District Coalition for Accessi¬
ble Transportation said she'd
like to see those with similar
transportation problems
work together to bring CDTA
and STAR, the company's
service for those who are dis¬
abled, to the area.
Seniors and the disabled
have the same need for
transportation and should
work together to demand bet¬
ter service, she said.
In the meantime, both can
use senior center buses to
get to medical appointments
and shopping on presched¬
uled days, and CAPTAIN will
help people without cars get
to jobs and interviews.
Persistence and a united
call for public transportation
may be the key to creating a
system in the area.
"We haven't had people
call and ask about it," said
Margo Janack, corporate
communications specialist at
CDTA.
Janack said when the inter¬
est is there, the company will
again look into the possibility
of bringing buses to Clifton
Park and Halfmoon.
This is the final article in
a series looking at trans¬
portation issues in southern
Saratoga County. For more
information on transporta¬
tion for seniors and the dis¬
abled, call the Shenende¬
howa Senior Center at
383-1343 or the Halfmoon
Senior Center at 371-3892.
For transportation help for
those in financial need, call
CAPTAIN at 371-1185. To
reach CDTA, call 482-3371 .