Letter: Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

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To the Editor:

The Board of Directors of the Al Nelson Friendship Center Food Pantry in North Adams wishes to thank the North Adams, Clarksburg and Florida Mountain community for their generation donations to the May 11 Letter Carrier Food Drive.

We received a total of 3,595 pounds of food and personal care items.

We equally want to thank our Letter Carriers who work out of the North Adams Post Office. They again went above and beyond in collecting the donations and bringing them to the collection and sorting site. They are always a pleasure to work with.

We also want to thank the Northern Berkshire United Way, the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, and the Berkshire United Way for their support, as well all of the volunteers who helped on the day of the Food Drive.

Lois Daunis
North Adams, Mass. 

Daunis is the board president of the Friendship Center.

 

 

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

BRTA Plans Technology Upgrades as Fare-Free Service Continues

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As Berkshire Regional Transit Authority riders take advantage of fare-free service through June 30, 2027, the agency is also looking to modernize its services and make public transportation more accessible.
 
Prior to BRTA going fare-free, riders could pay with cash or electronically using a CharlieCard. However, the state is no longer supporting Charlie Cards, according to BRTA administrator Kathleen Lambert, who said the state had been buying back CharlieCards over the last three months.
 
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is taking BRTA's CharlieCard equipment because it is still using the cards and also will be buying BRTA's old Scheidt & Bachmann fare boxes, Lambert said. 
 
But when returns to collecting fares, Lambert said, BRTA would like the system to be as cashless as possible.
 
She noted that based on a Merrimack Valley Transit (MeVa) fare analysis, the cost of collecting and processing cash fares significantly reduced the revenue. Only about 25 cents of every $1.50 collected in cash fares ultimately went back to the authority after accounting for administrative costs, she said, including staff time spent counting cash, armored-car services, banking fees and other costs associated with processing fares.
 
Right now, she said, fare free is a "much better bargain" for the agency because it is getting $1.7 million directly from the state through the Fair Share revenue, she said. 
 
But fare-free will not last forever, hence the need for technology upgrades.
 
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