With talks going around about the Capital District Transit Authority increasing fares to $1.50, therefore leveling Glens Falls with the rest of the CDTA bus service, there should be another discussion regarding unifying the bus system.
How about a bus line between Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs? The two cities separated by only 15 miles are more separate when you look at a transit map. Yes, you can take one of two Amtrak trains a day from Fort Edward to Saratoga Springs, but you can hardly make a day out of it since Amtrak changed the Fort Edward departure time on the Ethan Allen to be early afternoon -- and thus isn't reliable if you are someone seeking employment.
And Taxis and Ubers are expensive. And don't begin to mention the Northway Express, that service hasn't stopped in South Glens Falls in years.
Right now, by fixed service bus, the closest you will get to Saratoga Springs is on the 405-South Glens Falls line, which gets you as far south as Fawn Road near Exit 17 before it turns around to head back towards Glens Falls. There's another 11 miles to go before you are to reach Saratoga Springs, and the northernmost point on the Saratoga Springs CDTA grid -- the various shopping centers lining Route 50 in Wilton north of the city line.
A bus service linking the two cities would open up opportunities for residents of both cities and surrounding areas. North Country area residents would be able to take advantage of events and employment opportunities in Saratoga Springs, whether it be in downtown, the shopping district of Wilton or at the summer place to be, Saratoga Race Course. And vice versa, Saratoga region residents would be able to take advantage of the Glens Falls region, including transferring to the trolleys for summer work in the Lake George area.
Finally, service would bridge a gap in the CDTA grid -- thus finally linking all 7 counties of the CDTA's service area together. If someone wanted to, they could take a series of buses between Washington County and Montgomery County, or Warren County and Rensselaer County. When CDTA took over the Greater Glens Falls Transit operations at the start of 2024, they looked into ways of improving service to the Tri-Counties, what better way of improving service than linking us to the rest of the CDTA grid.
Granted this comes with some larger scale discussions. First, what direction would said service between the two cities take? Would it go directly down Route 9 and then over to the Wilton Mall? Or hop down Route 32 and 50 and provide a stop to those in Gansevoort? Second, how much would it cost to staff said bus run? What would be the break-even to allow service to be offered year round? How would it connect to the rest of the CDTA grid to allow for timely transfers between buses?
Those questions do need to be raised, especially given taxpayer funding. But it's something that should be discussed at CDTA ... something that would improve mass transit services in the Capital Region and North Country.
