CHIEF Executive Officer's Message

Carm Basile

Dear Friends,

CDTA has embarked upon some exciting developments to strengthen communication and add value for our customers and the community. We are partnering with Price Chopper on a program called the iride AdvantEdge—to help frequent shoppers to save money on transit. CDTA customers who shop at Price Chopper using their AdvantEdge card earn discounts on CDTA passes, making transit a more cost-effective option.

We continue to make our system more efficient and provide stronger connections with the introduction of a new improvement plan for Schenectady. New neighborhood routes reflect community preferences, provide service to important destinations and, reflect a careful analysis of ridership patterns. By offering more cross-town service, we will reduce the need for transfers—saving customers time and money. Additionally, service will run later in the evenings on these routes.

We consider it a priority to advance initiatives that help green our corner of the world. One of the ways that we are doing this is by expanding our Bikes on Buses program. We are now helping to subsidize bike parking racks for organizations and businesses, increasing environmentally friendly mobility options for our community. This spring, several hundred new bike racks, many with custom made designs, will be stationed around the Capital Region. This will make it easy for people that bike to our service and use the racks on our buses as a convenient and environmentally-friendly way to travel. It is also a good way for us to extend our partnership arrangements and to promote the value of our service to a wider audience. We hope that you will join us in our mission to reduce our carbon footprint and ride CDTA all year.

Together, we’ll make 2010 a great year.

Cordially,

Carm Basile

Chief Executive Officer