Morales Umberto says Sullivan County’s bus service is a vital lifeline, and he uses it every day to get around. Without it, the Liberty resident says he wouldn’t be able to leave the village.

“If we don’t take the bus, we’ll have to take a taxi. A taxi is too expensive," Umberto said. "If we pay for one time in a taxi, I can pay the bus for a month. I [would] rather take the bus.”

Pretty soon, Morales will be able to see more of the area as Sullivan County prepares to expand from two to four routes.

Laura Quigley, the county’s Commissioner of Community Resources, says this expansion will connect more of the county’s population hubs. The two existing routes cover Liberty, Monticello, Rock Hill and Fallsburg, among others. The new ones will include Bethel, Wurtsboro and Bloomingburg. This means more people getting more access to critical resources.

“They’re getting to doctor’s appointments, shopping and work," Quigley said. "Those are the three main reasons. Sometimes people are using it because their car is in the shop.”

The county is also looking to rebuild ridership after the COVID-19 pandemic caused a slowdown in 2020. These days, more than 300 residents a week use the system.

“[We’re] looking to build up the numbers again as people start to re-engage and come out of isolation and quarantine and hiding," Quigley said. "And spring is coming, so we’re expecting all those numbers to pick back up.”

According to the New York State Department of Transportation, public transit ridership has increased about 13% across the state, with more than 70% of the trips work-related.

Morales says he'll look forward to the expanded routes and hopes even more are established with growing ridership.

“Very good; that would be very good because that way, we don’t only have to go from Liberty to Monticello," he said. "We can go different places.”

Quigley says that hopefully in the summer, Sullivan County’s new routes and buses will hit the streets.