Board OKs bus connection plan

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jessica Harding

The Gloversville Transit System will be allowed to provide connecting service to the city of Amsterdam, thanks to a decision made Wednesday by the Town Board.

The OK was given to an intermunicipal agreement that will establish a Gloversville bus route along the town’s commercial Route 30 corridor into the city’s downtown.

Gloversville Transit System Director Al Schutz said he has been working since the summer on a bus route from that city through the town and into the city of Amsterdam, with additional stops at the Amsterdam Memorial and St. Mary’s hospitals.

Schutz said there is a need from Fulton County residents for transportation to medical services provided in Montgomery County. Also, there is a desire to provide Gloversville and Fulton County residents with access to jobs and shopping destinations in Montgomery County.

Schutz said a start date has yet to be determined. The Gloversville system has received a $35,000 grant from Fulton County’s Department of Social Services toward start-up costs. But Schutz said he is waiting on a grant from the state Department of Transportation.

“With gas the way it is and the aging population, there has been more investment in mass transit,” Schutz said. “Everyone is looking at mass transit as the answer to some of our questions.”

Schutz has been working with Amsterdam Transit System Director Cheryl Scott to coordinate bus routes with that city and Montgomery County’s new service.

“Our goal is to give people the options of every type of transportation they can get to,” Schutz said.

Montgomery County this week initiated bus service that brings people from as far west as St. Johnsville to as far east as the Riverfront Center in Amsterdam. Both Gloversville’s and Amsterdam’s transit systems will use the Riverfront Center as a connecting hub.

Scott said she hopes that riders from Gloversville who come into Amsterdam for doctor’s appointments will also use Amsterdam’s Transit System to branch out into the city or to shopping destinations. The Amsterdam Transit System already has a route to Fulton-Montgomery Community College and has a commuter services to Albany.

“This will be beneficial to riders because Gloversville and Johnstown won’t be so isolated. We will marry the counties and cities together and people will be free to move about,” Scott said.

In other business, Amsterdam’s Town Board also authorized the purchase of radar equipment for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department.

Town Supervisor Thomas DiMezza said Amsterdam is buying the equipment because the county sheriff’s department has budgeted an extra deputy to work solely within the town.

DiMezza said the equipment would cost about $3,000. He said that normally the town would not be responsible for purchasing equipment for the county sheriff’s department, but the department’s “well has run dry.”

“I think it’s a good idea for us to show our appreciation for the full-time deputy,” Town Board member Terry Bieniek said.