How much would you support a shuttle system on the Route 6 corridor through Wayne County, specifically the 9 miles from Honesdale to Hawley? The Wayne Tomorrow! Transportation Task Force, a partnership coordinated by the county, invites public input for a survey on a potential new service.
Other than the daily Shortline bus, which has service between Main Street, Honesdale, and New York City with stops in Wayne County at the Route 6 Mall, White Mills and Hawley, no regular fixed-route shuttle service is available. Forty years ago, Avery Transportation conducted a regular Route 6 bus service in Wayne County, serving many textile mill workers and others.
Wayne County Community Network Specialist Mikki Uzupes brings updates about Wayne Tomorrow! at the county commissioners' meetings. She reported at the June 27 session, "We are ready to launch our Route 6 shuttle survey. We have a private enterprise that has sought a license from the Public Utility Commission to operate a shuttle service between Honesdale and Hawley."
She said they are working with the company to learn where the stops would be along the 9 miles in and between these two boroughs, and possibly work with the landowners or business owners that would be willing to host the stops.
Only in the beginning phase, Uzupes continued, "What we are interested in doing is surveying the public as to how, when and where they might use it. It is only about 10 or 11 questions; it should not take more than five or 10 minutes. There is an opportunity for people to comment about this, about Route 6 shuttles, about ‘anything transportation’ here in Wayne County."
She stated that the last survey was taken in 2021, asking about a variety of public transportation services, as well as bicycle and pedestrian paths. This time they are focusing only on the shuttle service.
"We are just hoping to gauge what people might think about it, whether or not they would be willing to use it, how much they would be willing to pay for it, that kind of thing," Uzupes said. She stressed that the county would not run the service; rather, one of the functions of Wayne Tomorrow! is to bring other people and parties together who may be able to find a solution.
In the subsequent press release, Uzupes stated that accessible and affordable public transportation is especially important since the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our partner agencies tell us that in recent years, the costs of purchasing, operating, maintaining and insuring a personal vehicle have been growing out of the reach of some families, compounding the hardships presented by the absolute need for rural transportation in our rural area."
In the summer of 2023, the task force met with a representative from Via Transporation, a worldwide provider of software and mobility services. Once the task force provided information about points of interest along Route 6, Via proposed a Waymart to Hawley shuttle system that is projected to cost more than $2 million for the initial year.
The reaction of Wayne Tomorrow! Task Force Community Impact Network, Uzupes related, was that this was too expensive to sustain in a rural area, even with a grant, philanthropic and other funding help.
The private enterprise Uzupes mentioned started a local tax service earlier this year and is hoping to be licensed for a fixed-route shuttle service on Route 6. The hope is that the survey results will be useful for this company, she added.
The survey is available online. Uzupes said anyone needing a paper copy can contact her at 570-253-5970 ext. 1318.
To access the survey electronically, find the link at waynetomorrow.com/373/Transportation-Survey .
Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Would you support a Honesdale-Hawley Route 6 shuttle service? A survey is available.
Most Popular
Comments / 0