PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Robert Malnati's been getting people on the bus for more than two decades — and he's hoping to see ridership on the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority hit a record before he retires next year.
"We might be over 600,000 riders this year. That's huge. That is huge," said the BRTA administrator. "We probably haven't seen that number since probably the '70s."
Malnati became the transportation agency's sixth director in its 50-year history in 2014, succeeding Gary Shepard. He started as deputy administrator in 2002; his contract will be expiring next year after 23 years.
"It's a learning experience. It's a humbling experience, because you don't know how many lives you touch. And the impact that this system can have ... I mean, you hear stories here and there. The person that doesn't drive any longer ... and now can become more mobile with their friends. That's huge," he said. "How many of those stories are out there that don't get told, finding out that you can now take the bus because it's later in the evening to go to work or to come home from work, or you get home from working, you go to the grocery store.
"Before those options weren't there. So, yeah, I just like to see that whole thing prosper, become stronger."
He'd like to see the ridership continue to grow, and hear from riders how routes can be augmented to make them work a little better or easier.
"Or are there different pockets that are now using the bus that didn't six months ago because it wasn't free, and now that they've found that it's free, that that does work for them?" Malnati said. "Let's see what we can do so to maintain that higher ridership."
During his tenure, he's seen the BRTA add accessible vehicles, extend fare-free services, add five eco-friendly buses, restructure routes to better serve riders and begin studies to bring microtransit to the county.
Malnati is working toward figuring out his fleet of buses and what needs to be changed or updated, now that ridership is gaining.
"Every day's been different. It's been a great experience. It's been fun. There's ups, there's downs, budget season is terrible, but you know, you deal with it and I think it's a very rewarding experience here, dealing with customers on a daily basis," he said. "Like I said, every day is different. You can have a plan, but you know, life changes those real quick."
Malnati celebrated the BRTA's 50th anniversary last year with a fleet of hybrid buses and free rides for customers.
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BRTA Focuses on a New Run Schedule
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is still working on maintaining its run schedules after dropping the route realignment proposal.
Last Thursday's meeting was Administrator Kathleen Lambert's first official meeting taking over the reins; retiring director Robert Malnati stayed during a transition period that ended last month.
Lambert is trying to create a schedule that will lessen cancellations. There was a two-hour meeting the week before with the drivers union to negotiate run bids and Lambert is working with the new operating company Keolis, which is taking over from Transdev.
The board spoke about anonymous emails from drivers, which Lambert said she has not seen. iBerkshires was not able to see those letters, but has received some.
"They were lengthy emails from someone describing themselves as concerning BRTA employee, and there was a signed letter from a whole group of employees basically stating their concerns. So, you know, to me, it was a set of whistleblowers, and that, what my understanding is that this really triggers a need for some type of process to review the merits of these whistleblowers, not going to call them accusations, but basically expressions of concern," said member Stephen Bannon.
A letter iBerkshires received spoke of unhappy drivers who were considering quitting because of decisions being made without "input from frontline staff," frustration and falling morale, and the removal of the former general manager shortly after Lambert came in.
Lambert said it's difficult to navigate a new change. She also noted many drivers don't want to do Saturday runs and it has been hard negotiating with drivers on the new runs.
"I would like you all to keep in mind that the process of change is super difficult. Transdev has been here for 20 years, and some of these drivers have never known any other operating company, the way some of the operations have been handled has been archaic," she said. "So getting folks up to speed on how a modern transit system works is going to be painful for them. So I don't want to say that I'm unsympathetic, because I am sympathetic, but I am trying to coax people along with a system that's going to seem very strange to them."
The board spoke about better communication between them and Lambert, citing cooperation will be best moving forward.
"There's just a lot of stuff in the air right now, and there are a lot of fires to put out to make this a coordinated effort. And if we don't keep our communications open and be straightforward, then you get blindsided about how you know the input that you could get from us about your position, and how you know what's going on in your direction, and we get blindsided. And I think that we have to make sure that this is a collaboration," said member Sherry Youngkin.
"Both sides have responsibilities, because in the long run, this advisory board is going to have to make decisions as to how we brought forward and if we've gone forward in a fair and helpful way. And I think that's hopefully what everybody is looking for also."
Transdev and Keolis held a three-day recruiting event interviewing almost 40 candidates and offering jobs to eight, but only three stayed on to start training. Lambert said it was disappointing but she will keep trying to retain more people.
In her first report to the board, she noted that ridership dipped a little over 10 percent, but still remains higher than last year, adding that was because of cancellations of services because of the lack of drivers.
Like the last meeting, some of the advisory board members were torn over the start of the Link413 service, worried that the start of the service took drivers away and the numbers of riders are low.
Lambert, however, said the ridership has doubled from last month.
"As I've spoken before, we have, generally, a six-month adoption for brand-new service before you can really go in and evaluate, are you being successful based on the grant that my predecessor wrote along with the team for PBTA and RTA, we are ahead of schedule, which is pretty good, so I'm hoping that will continue to improve," she said.
Member Renee Wood said the board never approved the service, adding the only thing she could find in the minutes was a vote to accept the equipment. She said it was supposed to be put on the agenda to discuss.
"The Link413 service has been three years in the making. It's been a grant that was accepted and has been working with our partners, PVTA and FRTA, to put into place. So I don't have the entire history of how that process worked, but it's been three years in the making, and did we not understand that once we accept that grant that we were going to put in new service?" Lambert said.
The board discussed if Title VI, the Civil Rights Act, was followed with an accurate review and accurate amount of time for public comment period on the service changes and if its attorney should review if the grant conditions were properly followed.
Lambert said changes had the 60-day comment period included in the proposed route realignment packet, giving the opportunity for the community to respond to that as well but will look into the legality of the situation with their attorney.
The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is still working on maintaining its run schedules after dropping the route realignment proposal. click for more
The town election is less than a month away and, unlike recent ones, all open seats are uncontested, with even a vacancy remaining on the Planning Board.
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