Welch Rides the Bus Burlington Free Press

Press Release

Welch rides the bus Burlington Free Press

By Terri Hallenbeck,Free Press Staff Writer

September 3, 2008

Passengers on the 4:45 p.m. run from Burlington to Montpelier are sold on the idea that public transit is the way to go.

So when U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., climbed aboard to listen to passengers Tuesday afternoon he heard a chorus of calls for more -- more buses going more places at more times of day.

How realistic is that? That's the harder part.

Bus services such as the Chittenden County Transportation Authority that Welch rode Tuesday are growing increasingly popular but are buckling under the same rising gas prices that their passengers are grappling with. Bus operators are raising fares, cutting less popular routes. Bus service that once took passengers from Burlington to Albany, N.Y., was eliminated several years ago.

Governments across the country, faced with declining revenues, are looking for places to cut, not add. In Vermont, where train service is so limited that one cannot travel conveniently from Burlington to Boston, the state subsidy that provides Amtrak service is among the possible items being considered for cuts.

Welch, who is one among 536 people who have a say in passing out federal money, has sponsored legislation that has passed the House and is pending in the Senate, which would provide states with $1.7 billion over two years to boost public transportation.

"We've got to put more money into it," Welch said.

Jay Appleton, riding the afternoon bus from Burlington to Waterbury, is completely behind him. "I think the government needs to throw money at it," he said. Gas prices will force Americans to change the way they think about the automobile, he said.

Four days a week, Appleton drives from his home in Fayston to Waterbury and pays $4 for the Chittenden County Transportation Authority bus to Burlington, where he works in technology for the city. On the fifth day, he drives himself. He needs the car to run errands.

Appleton said he thinks government should do more to encourage downtown development so people don't have to drive as much. Yet, he lives in Fayston, reachable pretty much only by car. Change, he had to admit, doesn't come easily.

When he started making this commute from Fayston to Burlington 10 years ago, gas was $1.06 a gallon. Living in the country, where he has "magnificent views," made all the sense in the world. Now, with gas prices hovering around $3.80 a gallon, it's hard to say whether he would make the choice to live in the country again.

It's not practical for him to abandon country living at this point, though, so Appleton has made one lifestyle change. He rides the bus.

"I never thought I would like it as much as I do," he said. "I thought it would be a hassle. I'm actually more rested because I don't have to drive."

In the seat behind him, Sheryl Teague of Barre read a Lisa Scottoline crime page-turner while the bus took her from Burlington, where she works at Chittenden Bank, to Montpelier, where she parks her car.

"I've been reading a lot more," she said, of the three months she's been commuting by bus. She's also saved $400 a month in car expenses.

"I resisted a long time taking the bus," she said. She had to get used to not having a car at her disposal, not leaving at the exact time she might want to, getting home a half-hour later than she would otherwise. The bonus: She's not filling up the gas tank as often, putting as many miles on the car or having to watch out for distracted drivers. "It's a compromise," she said.

What would make the bus more enticing, she said, is having separate bus runs -- a local that stops in Richmond and Waterbury and an express that barrels straight for Montpelier.

You've got to have a bus people want to be on, a schedule that's convenient and service that's prompt and timely," Welch said. "The key is how do you pay for it?"

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