How to get to upcoming Erie events using EMTA

EMTA routes to upcoming outdoor events

Aug 14 - 814 Day Music Fest - 3-9pm. Bayview Park #31, Griswold Park and Perry Square (all buses but #15), Rodger Young #16 #25, Washington Park #29 

Aug 27-29 Zabawa Polish Festival 2220 Reed #16 #24 #25 #26 no Sunday route.

Sep 4 - German Heritage Festival St Nick's Grove #27

Sep 5 - Hispanic Heritage Festival Perry Square All but #15

Sep 24-26 -Erie's Blues & Jazz Festival Frontier Park #30, #31 no Sun. route.

DOWNTOWN events - All Erie buses except #15 go to State Street.
Events subject to change due to COVID and other concerns
CORRECTIONS welcomed
CELEBRATE SAFELY

EMTA Free Fares FAQs

• When will the free fare period begin and end?
  • Temporary free fares will begin July 5th and end August 29th.
• Do masks have to be worn on EMTA buses?
  • Yes, despite the lifting of restrictions in Pennsylvania masks must still be worn on buses as per guidelines set forth by the FTA and will expire September 13, 2021.
• how is the cost of the service covered?
  • EMTA will provide the temporary free fare service period with funds provided by the CARES as a part of the economic recovery initiative.
• Why launch free fare service now?
  • The EMTA Board passed the resolution June 28th to authorize the temporary free fares to build ridership momentum as the Governor lifted the pandemic restrictions. EMTA did not provide free fares during the pandemic as social distancing guidelines would not allow for increased number of riders.
• What EMTA services are included with free fares?
  • The free fare service includes fixed route rides and the LIFT paratransit service.
• Why provide free fares?
• As a demonstration that EMTA is doing its part to return riders to work and back to social engagements with lifted restrictions.

https://ride-the-e.com/2021/06/30/emta-free-fares-faqs/ 

 

Updates - May 6, 2021

Today I spoke with Ed Torres, Director of Fixed-Route Operations at EMTA . I asked him for updates, and also clarifications of issues.

LAID-OFF DRIVERS. Are they being called back? Ed said "nothing is set in stone but once we need them we'll be calling people back." They won't know specifics till after drivers take their scheduled vacations, which are coming up soon. They may also need drivers for the school year

WILL SUNDAY SERVICE RETURN? Ed said even before the pandemic that ridership was low. Sounds like this remains up in the air for now.

ROUTES

• Presque Isle Express is returning
• Route Upgrades coming around June 12. Routes 25/30 and 21/28 will each have an additional trip added on Saturday.

EMTA to get $11.6 million from American Rescue Plan

From  "Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority getting $11.6 million from American Rescue Plan"  Kevin Flowers Erie Times-News April 2, 2021: [

[EMTA exceutive director Jeremy] Peterson said EMTA must now develop "a transparent plan" for the American Rescue Plan money.
EMTA officials are studying the grant requirements and asking federal officials about whether there are any restrictions, Peterson said.
[...]
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, addressing the American Rescue Plan funding, said in a statement that "transportation workers are serving on the front lines of this pandemic: delivering the vaccine, getting people to essential jobs and providing goods and services to people who need them.
"The critical American Rescue Plan funding we are announcing today will help prevent service cuts, protect employees from layoffs, keep riders and workers safe and strengthen our economy," Buttigieg said.
Dave Robinson, EMTA's board chairman, called the funding “existential” for EMTA and other transit agencies across the country.
“Everybody’s lost ridership and it’s going to take a while to bring that back,” Robinson said. “And that’s not a thing that you can just turn on and off. This money is going to help keep us afloat.”

EMTA,COVID-19,funding

Pandemic bike shortage

Bike rack at WalMart Summit location 8/28/2020

During the pandemic, we've become used to empty shelves.
I took this photo at the bike rack at WalMart in Summit. I asked an associate if this was pandemic related and she said yes. I asked if they would be getting more anytime soon, and she said she couldn't answer that. Same story at the Elm Street location. -
Some of it is  fear of public transportation in a pandemic. But it also has to do with supply chains. An interesting article from Marketplace: Bike shortage is a tale of changed lives and disrupted supply chains 

Pandemic Layoffs at EMTA

This is an update on driver layoffs. The EMTA employees already know about this, so I’m directing at riders and others.

▪️On Monday July 27 the drivers union and EMTA reached an agreement about pandemic-related layoffs.
▪️Service wont be affected by the layoffs, though some drivers livelihoods definitely will be.
▪️22 drivers will be on layoff.
▪️The decision about who gets to stay appears to be completely about seniority.
▪️In March of this year, largely because of the pandemic, ridership dropped by 85%. Service had to be cut and 39 drivers were laid off.
▪️Company has called back approximately 17.
▪️The agreement was hammered out and arrived at between union and company.
▪️Although the rider support and concern were appreciated by affected drivers, it is hard to imagine that in this particular issue they could have made a difference, because of what the parties had to work with.
▪️As I understand it, the drivers who are laid off may still be called back within 24 months?
▪️Very sorry for those who are among the laid off at this time. Hopefully this whole situation that caused this will be turned around soon. 🙏
~deb

~~~~~~

Note: The agreement between ATU Local 568 and EMTA is a bit more detailed than this. However, as I said, this was written for riders, and I wrote it for ease of understanding what was going on. Also, I know the company and union describe the agreement a little differently than the other, and I tried to stay as basic as I could. ~deb