City, County To Celebrate Collaboration
On New Cooperstown, Oneonta Buses
ONEONTA – Oneonta Public Transit (OPT) and Otsego Express, Otsego County’s bus system, have put new, smaller more energy-efficient 30-passenger buses into service between Oneonta and Cooperstown.
City and county officials will be meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday, at the Transportation Center in Clinton Plaza to examine the new vehicles and celebrate the initiative.
The new buses replace larger vehicles purchased in 2003.
In 2010, OPT recognized most of the riders on the Oneonta-to-Cooperstown route were not city residents. It was also discovered maintenance and fuel costs were outstripping revenues.
So Otsego County government cooperated with the OPT in this mutually beneficial initiative, according to an OPT press release issued this afternoon.
Under a new agreement, the county bought the new buses with federal transportation grants provided through the state DOT, and City Hall contributed the required 10 percent match.
The county and city will now share costs and revenues from the combined route.
The new arrangement will assure quality public transportation between the two largest population centers in the county, providing a comfortable ride to work, shopping, and medical appointments.