Mrs. Poulin has been riding commuter buses from Manassas for more than 25 years.
Each month, PRTC shines a light on one of our passengers to learn why that person chooses to ride public transportation, how long he or she has been using PRTC’s services and what we can do to improve that person’s commute. Check out this month’s Rider Spotlight below.
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Mrs. Poulin has been riding commuter buses from Manassas for more than 25 years. |
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Susan Poulin
Customer Profile - September 2010
Susan Poulin has been riding commuter buses from Manassas for more than 25 years, which is longer than PRTC, which was created in 1986, has been in existence. In fact, she and her husband joke that she’s been riding for so long that she should own a seat, if not a whole bus.
“Back when I started riding, there was one or maybe two [trips] serving Manassas,” she said, noting that the previous operators of the commuter services often failed to provide quality services. Despite the assorted problems with service from PRTC’s predecessors, she chose to use public transportation because it was less expensive than driving.
Over the past two decades, the area has seen tremendous growth, and she’s pleased that PRTC’s Manassas-based services have grown to accommodate that demand. The OmniRide buses are well maintained and the operators obviously have better training, she added.
Mrs. Poulin recently retired after 34 years of working at the State Department as a Foreign Affairs Officer. Before becoming a regular OmniRide passenger, Mrs. Poulin and her husband carpooled for one year – her husband would drop her off downtown in the mornings before driving to his job in Maryland. But after putting 25,000 miles on their vehicle in a single year, her husband found a job in Manassas and Mrs. Poulin started riding with one of PRTC’s predecessors.
“At that rate, by the time the car would be paid off it would have had so many miles that it would be ready to die,” she said.
Because they are a one-vehicle family, Mrs. Poulin’s husband would drive her to a commuter lot – at first it was the K-Mart parking lot and later on it was Manassas Mall, where she would catch the earliest available bus. She loved it when PRTC started the reverse routing for select Manassas trips – serving downtown stops before going to the Pentagon – but couldn’t take advantage of the time savings because the first reverse trip didn’t start early enough to fit her schedule.
Even though she’s now retired, she hopes that PRTC will accommodate the growing population in western Prince William by adding OmniRide services in Gainesville and Bristow. Many people drive from the western end to Manassas to catch an OmniRide trip because the one-seat ride is more convenient than taking the Linton Hall Metro Direct and having to make a transfer, she said.
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Interested in having your story spotlighted? There’s no minimum time that you must have been riding with PRTC! As long as you ride with us at least occasionally and are willing to submit a photo, you qualify! If you’d like to be featured in Rider Spotlight, contact Christine Rodrigo at (703) 583-7782 or at crodrigo@OmniRide.com.
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