A sleepy Main Street in Allegany County's biggest town – home to about 7,000 people – spans barely five blocks along the Genesee River, running from a diner that offers a Friday fish fry on one end to a family law office on the other. Streetside parking spots remain open and car horns quiet. Nearly 10 percent of households in Allegany County – one of New York state's poorest counties and one of the the Mid-Atlantic region's most rural – do not own a car, compared with the national median of about 6 percent, according to a U.S. News analysis of U.S. Census data. In Wellsville, sidewalks disappear shortly outside of downtown, adding to the difficulties of getting around the area.
But like anywhere, Wellsville residents still have errands
to run, places to be and things to do. And perhaps the most common sight in the
old oil town is a 12-seat shuttle bus with a green stripe, steadily making its
way across streets dotted with churches and worn Victorian homes.
These ACCESS Allegany buses compose a public transportation
system managed by a rural health development network, Ardent Solutions, in
partnership with the local government.
Every weekday, with just a handful of exceptions for federal
holidays, the ACCESS Allegany public bus system runs six routes featuring
dozens of total stops, traversing the county and beyond to help people get to
their doctor's appointments, jobs and social events safely and on time.
More than 300 miles east, New York City's subway system
serves nearly 6 million people each day across more than 600 miles of tracks.
The ACCESS Allegany system covers about 2,000 miles each day and reaches just a
fraction of that ridership, but it's no less integral to the vitality of those
it serves.
In fact, according to a U.S. News analysis of nearly 3,000
U.S. communities across 80 health-related metrics, Allegany County is healthier
than New York City's Queens, Bronx and Kings counties. And the bus system helps
it perform fairly well in an area in which other rural communities can
struggle. Read the rest of this U.S. News & World report article HERE.
