Bus service bound for reservation

By Carson Walker, Associated Press Writer | Monday, July 11, 2005

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION — Instead of walking along the road, hitchhiking or catching a ride with friends or family, residents of this vast reservation should by next year be able to take the bus.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe has secured funding to start a public transportation system that will serve villages in an area that encompasses two of the nation's poorest counties.

The Pine Ridge reservation is about 4,400 square miles — more than twice the size of the state of Delaware. The unemployment rate is nearly 80 percent, and average annual income for the approximately 16,000 residents is $3,700.

Emma Featherman-Sam, the tribe's transit coordinator, said the system will provide "access to jobs, access to their medical appointments."

She lives in Kyle but works in Pine Ridge, a 57-mile drive one way, "and maybe three times a week, I pick up somebody hitchhiking to work," she said.

Three daily routes will initially run from Wanblee through Pine Ridge and other villages along the way and then to the tribe's casino on the reservation's western border. Smaller feeder routes will eventually connect with the main line, Featherman-Sam said.

The project will start with 10 buses, two vans and a bus terminal in Pine Ridge. The tribe is also looking for sponsors to help cover the cost of shelters, which are $700 each.

Deloris Bear Killer, the tribe's transit liaison, has visited people to get feedback on the proposed routes and pickup-point locations.

The need is significant, she said.

Bear Killer said she met one woman in Pine Ridge toting six bags of groceries and her preschool-age grandson in tow.

"I asked her what she was doing, and she said she had to hitchhike in from Oglala to get groceries and hitchhike back," she said.

Bear Killer said the toddler had to miss Head Start that day because she didn't know when she would be home to meet his bus.

The elderly also have indicated interest, Bear Killer said.

"One of the ladies said this would make her more independent and she wouldn't have to rely on people to haul her here and there. She said it's really hard because these younger people have things to do," Bear Killer said.

Still unresolved are fare amounts that will cover operating costs, she said.

The Federal Transportation Administration awarded $2.27 million for the buses and building. The tribe is now filing paperwork to secure about $500,000 in matching money from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Featherman-Sam said.

"That's the piece that's taking the longest," she said.

Construction on the bus terminal could start this fall, and the buses would begin running next spring at the earliest, Featherman-Sam said. It takes time to get them after they have been ordered.

"We're hoping we can find a company that has some on hand so we can get going soon," she said.

Buses along the main route will run morning, midday and evening to allow people to get to appointments and return home without waiting all day, Featherman-Sam said.

She hopes the system will eventually include regular trips to Rapid City, a popular destination for many reservation residents' shopping and medical appointments.

When the system is operational, Featherman-Sam's top concern will be keeping it on time.

"The biggest challenge is to make sure there's a bus there," she said. "The people can go there and know that the bus will stop there at 7:15."