Transit Advisory Committee Meeting

We recently completed the latest Fort Berthold Transit Program Transit Advisory Committee meeting! It was a fantastic meeting and was very well attended. This meeting provided an opportunity for the leaders in our Fort Berthold communities to provide input into the development of the Fort Berthold Transit Plan. AT Stoddard and his team from LSC Consultants are in the process of identifying travel options and routes that would safely reconnect Fort Berthold communities (to each other and to surrounding cities). The team was successful in collecting over 150 completed surveys in order to best understand how people currently use transportation on Fort Berthold and what they would like to see change. There is still an opportunity to complete the survey, so if you haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet, be sure to visit http://lsccs.com/surveys/ft_berthold/community.php. AT then presented the bulk of his team’s research thus far, and opened up the floor for meeting attendees to provide feedback on the proposed route corridors and other components of the transit plan. Meeting attendees voiced their excitement about what the Fort Berthold Transit Program and ferry will bring to the region in the form of improved road safety for our community members and elders, better access to work, health care, and other tribal services, and an opportunity for long-term and sustainable tourism opportunities!

One of the most exciting components of the Transit Service Plan is the possibility of integrating Fort Berthold transit services with a future ferry system. Options will consider both a water taxi type service and a larger ferry service. In either case, users of the water transportation system will need connections provided by land-based transportation services to reach the water transportation system and to travel between the dock and their final destination.

Further input from members of the community will be very important to help identify unmet transportation needs and provide feedback on possible services that may be recommended. After receiving community input, LSC will prepare a Service Plan for the preferred services. The decisions made in this planning process will guide the development of the public transit and ferry system for many years to come, so be sure to get involved! Our next Transit Advisory Committee meeting will be on June 8th.

A very special THANK YOU goes out to all of the Transit Advisory Committee attendees (below)!
Cory Spotted Bear (TAT Twin Buttes), James Grinnell (TAT Twin Buttes), Leslie Hammerberg (Chamber of Commerce), Sheila Many Ribs (TAT Planning and Grants), Sherrie Gillette (TAT Planning and Grants), Richard Hall (TAT Department of Transportation), Melissa Brady (Elbowoods Memorial Health Clinic), Kathryn Eagle (Elbowoods Memorial Health Clinic), Joleen Steele (TAT Planning and Grants), Ed Hall, Donna Morgan (TAT Elders Organization), Ramona Two Shields (TAT Elders Organization), Dean Bear Claw (TAT Planning and Grants), Ron Hall (Bubar and Hall Consulting), AT Stoddard (LSC Consultants), and Alex Basaraba (Bubar and Hall Consulting).