Putnam Area Rapid Transit
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Putnam Area Rapid Transit (PART) is the provider of bus transit in Putnam County, New York. An agency of the Putnam County government, PART came into service in the mid-1970s as a startup system in the wake of growing suburbanization of Putnam County and rising gas prices.
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[edit] Routes
PART currently operates five routes, all of which meet at various points during the day at Putnam Plaza, a strip mall in the county seat of Carmel.
- PART 1: Serves Brewster and Putnam Lake, service runs weekdays 5:00 a.m-7:00 p.m, Saturdays 8:00 a.m-4:00 p.m.
- PART 2: A line route serving Mahopac, Baldwin Place, Mahopac Falls, then running pickup/dropoff -only service to Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights.
- PART 3: Serves the town of Kent, New York and the village of Patterson via Routes 22 and 311. Service is weekday-only, 8:00 a.m-5:00 p.m.
- PART 4: A thrice weekly (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) special route running from Carmel to Jefferson Valley Mall, Cortlandt Town Center, then continuing on Route 9 through western Putnam County and then serving the commercial strip on that route in southern Dutchess County before ending at Poughkeepsie Galleria. Service in Westchester and Dutchess counties is pickup/dropoff only.
- PART 5: A loop route serving Carmel and Lake Carmel, operates weekdays 5:00 a.m-8:00 p.m, Saturdays 8:00 a.m-5:00 p.m.
PART also operates paratransit service for those unable to use regular route service due to disabilities and senior citizens.
[edit] Connections
PART has connection points with several transit agencies from adjacent areas.
- Dutchess County LOOP: PART 4 and the LOOP 3 route run together on U.S. Route 9 from Fishkill to the Poughkeepsie Galleria and connections can be made at both the Fishkill WalMart and at the Galleria.
- City of Poughkeepsie Transit also stops at Poughkeepsie Galleria, however due to the timing of PART 4 and its routes any connections can be seen as risky or even unfeasible.
- Bee-Line Bus System: PART 2 terminates at Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights, connecting with Bee-Line routes 12 and 16. PART buses also meet buses on Bee-Line route 77, an express route from White Plains to Mahopac.
- Housatonic Area Regional Transit: PART 1 connects with, depending on time of day, HART's Danbury-Brewster shuttle or HART route 3 in Brewster.
- Metro-North Railroad connections can be made via PART 1 at Brewster or PART 3 at Patterson. A connection to the Cold Spring station can be made via PART 4 but the limited services can make such a connection prohibitive.
[edit] Criticism
As Putnam County has grown in recent years, some residents have felt that the scope of PART service should be broadened. Unlike Dutchess or Westchester counties, no additional peak-hour service to Metro-North Railroad stations is offered and service in the western part of the county is near nonexistant. Another criticism has been fares which were raised at the start of 2006 to $2.25 per one-way ride, one of the highest such fares in the United States.
