New Year’s rides miss the bus
Sunday, December 28th, 2008
New York Sightseeing and Van Rentals
ALBANY — After 26 years, the Albany County sheriff’s office is being forced to park its Safe Ride program for New Year’s.
A year ago, the program provided 961 people with free trips home from bars on the biggest party night of the year. But the program had four fewer buses than needed, and many patrons wound up waiting for two hours or more, Sheriff James Campbell said.
This year, Campbell said, the county had the $10,000 needed for the program but it could only find 15 buses, and a minimum of 25 is necessary. Worried that long waits might prompt people who had been drinking to get in their cars, the sheriff decided not to offer the free ride program.
“We knew we couldn’t do it. We were short last year with 21,” he said. “We average between 800 and 1,000 people so we know what we need.”
The sheriff’s department and other police agencies will have stepped up drunken-driving enforcement programs.
“We’re asking people to use some personal responsibility, to have a designated driver, to have someone who is sober with you,” he said.
The law firm of Martin, Harding and Mazzotti will provide some free rides New Year’s night. The firm can be reached at (800) 529-1010.
In Rensselaer County, the Safe Ride program runs from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. using three county vans. The county program is done in accordance with the Netters Fund, a year-round program to provide free cab rides from participating bars started in memory of Annette Balistreri, who was killed by a drunken driver in 2005.
Saratoga Springs has no Safe Ride program but Martin, Harding and Mazzotti is offering free rides too, said Police Capt. Michael Biss. “If they call and say ‘I am so plastered I can’t stand,’ we’ll make a call and find a family member or someone to give them a ride,” Biss added.
Albany County has not had a drunken-driving fatality on New Year’s in 25 years.
Staff Sgt. Leonard J. Crouch, who oversees the county’s STOP-DWI program, said he hopes the early notice will encourage people to make other plans for getting home.
“If we put one person behind the wheel of a car because they didn’t get picked up or because there was a two- or three-hour wait, what did we accomplish?” Crouch said.
Last year, Northland Transportation of Scotia offered the sole bid and initially said it could provide 15 buses.
“The company was good enough to scrounge around to get us six more people and six more vehicles,” Crouch said, but that proved to be insufficient.
Gary Valenti, general manager for Northland, said his firm also provides vans for Schenectady County’s free ride program. This year, Schenectady County cut the number of vans from 12 to six, he said.
He said he had hoped the 15 buses for Albany would be enough.
“To me, 15 is better than none,” he said. “People don’t mind if they have to wait for an hour. It’s a free ride. It’s a safe ride.”
Valenti said he is worried that Albany’s burgeoning bar scene downtown will mean people will drink and drive.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do. You go from 21 to 0. People aren’t going to stop drinking,” he said. “The volume of drinking has gone up so much. I am very concerned about it.”
Some people who waited for rides continued to drink, Crouch said, and the sheriff’s office feared a delayed ride might prompt drunken drivers to get in their cars.
“We’re putting you at risk,” he said. “The sheriff and I know we can’t work that way. There is a huge personal responsibility. We know last year we had people waiting two or three hours, and some of those people disappeared in the night.”
Staff writer Tim O’Brien can be reached at 454-5092 or by e-mail at tobrien@timesunion.com.
Anti-DWI programs cut back
Some counties are cutting back on their New Year’s Eve free rides. The law firm of Martin, Harding and Mazzotti will provide some free rides. Call (800) 529-1010.
Albany County: No county program
Rensselaer County: Safe Ride available 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. New Year’s Eve, with three county vans. Also, Netters Fund, a year-round program, provides free cab rides from participating bars
Saratoga County: No county program
Schenectady County: County provides some vans
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=754392
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