Westmoreland County Transit Authority to buy 20 new paratransit vehicles

Westmoreland County Transit Authority is updating its fleet of paratransit vehicles as it reports seeing ridership numbers for the door-to-door, shared-ride service recover after slumping during the covid-19 pandemic.

The authority on Thursday approved buying 20 new paratransit mini-buses to replace similar vehicles.

Executive Director Alan Blahovec said the authority will catch up on its fleet renewal, replacing nine vehicles that were put into service in 2015 and 11 that hit the road in 2016. The vehicles will be purchased from Coach & Equipment Bus Sales under a statewide contract. PennDOT grants are expected to cover the cost of about $97,000 per vehicle, for a total of more than $1.8 million.

Each of the gas-fueled vehicles can transport up to 12 seated passengers or six in wheelchairs.

It might take eight to 12 months to receive all the new vehicles, Blahovec said.

“They will be exactly like the last ones that we bought,” Blahovec said. “As soon as we get those, we’ll sell the other ones. They’re beat up after five years.”

Deputy Executive Director Ashley Cooper reported paratransit ridership has been up during the past few months, compared with the same period in the previous two years. But it has not climbed back to pre-pandemic levels.

“We are holding pretty steady with our ridership over the last three months,” she said.

But, Blahovec added, “We’re still not back to full service on the fixed routes. On the shared ride, we are still limiting service on certain days because we only have so many passengers.”

In May, 12,514 passengers used the paratransit service, compared with 15,404 in May 2019. The May ridership numbers were at only 5,853 in 2020 and 10,078 in 2021.

The authority is projecting a total of 178,233 paratransit passengers this year, compared with 181,764 in 2019.

Ridership on the authority’s fixed bus routes isn’t as close to pre-pandemic levels. That number was at 13,382 in May, compared with 31,945 during the same month in 2019.

Parking improvements planned

The authority also will spend $55,399 to repair and expand parking at its maintenance facility in Youngwood’s Buncher Industrial Park. The authority recently moved its call center there and is planning to add 14 parking spaces.

“The borough paved Avenue B, so now the water runs into our spots,” Blahovec said. “We need to raise those spots up so (the water) runs back out.”

The authority will pay The Buncher Co., from which it leases the facility, to complete the work.

The authority also renewed for one year an agreement with the county Area Agency on Aging. The agency helps cover costs for passengers 65 or older who used the authority’s shared-ride service to get to medical appointments, adult day care services or senior center activities.

The agency covers a 10% co-pay for eligible trips, and senior passengers pay 5%.