Four drivers lose jobs at Valley Transit

These Valley Transit buses are not running as much as they used to.

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Story Published: Oct 12, 2009 at 9:22 PM PDT

Story Updated: Oct 12, 2009 at 9:22 PM PDT

By Matt Loveless

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LEWISTON - The birth of a new transit system in Lewiston doesn't mean the end of another one, but it is having its impact.

Valley Transit is now co-existing with the newly-formed Lewiston Transit, which has been in operation since October 1.

Valley Transit Executive Director Tom LaPointe said Monday that the change appears to have caused some confusion in Lewiston.

"People are confusing who is running each transit operation," said LaPointe. "Lewiston doesn't happen to be running today (Columbus Day), but people are very understanding, and most of them are quite aware that we're still continuing to run."

LaPointe said Lewiston Transit has been easy to work with, but admits the change is taking a toll on Valley Transit's budget.

"It's in the process of beginning to affect our bottom line," said LaPointe. "We did have to lay off four full time drivers here last week. Their last day was Friday for the most part. So, we had about a 30 percent reduction in our budget because Lewiston is running it's own system now."

But LaPointe said that doesn't mean they're not running and won't continue to run. LaPointe said they're still providing Medicaid trips in Lewiston, while serving the cities of Clarkston, Asotin, and Moscow and running four round trips between Lewiston and Moscow every day during the week.

"There's also our newest pet project, which is a weekly round trip two-a-day from Moscow to Elk River with stops in the cities in between of Deary, Bovill, as well as Elk River," said LaPointe. "So it's a lot of fun. We're still standing. We're still a private non-profit corporation continuing to serve the people of Idaho’s Region 2."

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