LCTA comes up empty for answers to alleged senior ghost riders
By: Joe Holden
Updated: January 16, 2013
Kingston, Luzerne County- The number of senior passengers on transportation authority buses is tied to what the authority can qualify for from specific state funding streams, Stanley Strelish, executive director of the LCTA confirmed on Tuesday. But he said it's complicated and one not easily explained. And while paperwork and documents previously obtained by Eyewitness News shows a sharp crash of the number of senior riders on July 18, 2012, the reason behind the drop also cannot be explained, said Sal Licata, the authority's newly seated chairman. Licata initially said it may have been the weather, but when pressed further on the issue, he acknowledged that he was at a loss to make sense out of why the numbers never rebounded to previous levels.
Allegations of inflated senior rider numbers were first raised July 17 at a county council meeting. The following day, those figured plummeted. It was alleged that bus drivers were ordered to ramp up the numbers, possibly to give the authority access to increased funding. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has been investigating the allegations. It has yet to make a determination on the claims.
Allegations of inflated senior rider numbers were first raised July 17 at a county council meeting. The following day, those figured plummeted. It was alleged that bus drivers were ordered to ramp up the numbers, possibly to give the authority access to increased funding. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has been investigating the allegations. It has yet to make a determination on the claims.
