Phillips Transit to celebrate 10th anniversary

In the 10 years that the Phillips Transit Authority (PTA) has been operating in the county, it has given nearly half a million rides and traveled over half a million miles. On Wednesday, June 15, PTA is asking the public to come down to the Stockman Terrace in Malta from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. to help celebrate their 10th birthday.

"Our Board members will be serving hot dogs, bottles of water and chips to celebrate that day," said Betty Hasler, Coordinator at PTA. "There will also be door prizes so people should come out and help us celebrate."

The Phillips Transit Authority was founded in 2006 in order to retain funding for transportation and put the Hi-Line Retirement Center, Malta Opportunities, Inc. and the PC-COA all under the same transportation-umbrella.

Hasler was hired in May of 2006 and with the help of the County Attorney and PTA's Board of Directors at the time, the organization was formed and legally recognized as of July of that year. Prior to being organized, public transportation in Phillips County averaged about 1,8000 riders and was used solely for senior citizens and MOI clients. In PTA's first year of existence, a total of 33,134 rides were given and the Transit moved to serving the entire general public.

"During the school year, we start giving children rides to school at 7:30 in the morning and then pick them and take them home when the school day is complete," Hasler said.

Some of the other weekly trips for the PTA include picking up riders in Saco and bringing them to Malta for shopping and hospital appointments and trips to Glasgow, Great Falls, and Billings for visits to the doctor. One of the most popular and utilized functions of the transit are the rides to churches on Sundays.

"This is a free service that is made available to public for church rides made possible through donations from the local churches," said Hasler. "And then, as a thank you to our riders, we provide a free trip a couple of times per year to the Fort Peck Theatre or to watch the elk bugle at Slippery Ann."

The later free service is on a first-come, first-serve basis and is limited to 16-riders each trip. The transit also provides paid travel to such functions as sporting events, family reunions, concerts and for lifeguard certification.

In its first year, the PTA was made up of three employees (including Halser.) There are currently eight employees at PTA and over the 10-years the organization has paid out $1,276,569 in wages and spent nearly $400,000 locally on such items as fuel, repairs, rent and office supplies. In that same time span, PTA vehicles have given 441,459 rides and traveled nearly 600,000 miles and earned nearly $60,000 dollars in $1 donations paid to ride the bus.

The current employees at PTA are Hasler, Leya Skinner, Dale Salveson, Candee Soennichsen, Julia Johnson, Rosie Bednarczyk, Gail Neal and Wade Hasler. The PTA Board consist of Chairmen Duane Murray, Vice-Chair Don Nevrivy, Secretary Teri Cole, Bonnie Wiederrick, Donna Handley, Jenny Tollefson, Lesley Robinson and Mark Hebert.