Inbound stops at Americana & Ann Morrison and Americana & Shoreline closed. Temp stop placed far side of Shoreline. No temp stop placed for Ann Morrison, please use American & Latah stop if needed.
Outbound stops at Americana & Shoreline and Americana & Ann Morrison closed. Temp stop placed far side of Ann Morrison. No temp stop placed for Shoreline, please use River & 15th stop if needed.
Inbound State and Pierce Park stop closed, no temp placed due to construction.
Stop at CWI Main Campas in Nampa will be closed due to construction. Temporary stop will be in the parking lot in front of the Main Academic Building
Route 16: Stops on 1st & Idaho and 1st & Bannock will be closed. Please use the bus stop on Main & 1st.
A Treasure Valley veteran in hospice care being transported by ambulance from the Boise VA Medical Center to Salt Lake City had a simple request – one last opportunity to visit the Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls.
“We got there, took him out, and he really, really enjoyed it,” recalled William “Bud” Paine, a board director and Emergency Medical Services director of Lifestar Rural EMS Solutions. “The mental health aspect of this is just staggering.”
The success of this act of kindness got Paine to thinking about finding a way to get other veterans in hospice care to destinations in southern Idaho that they may never see again. Lifestar considered using a wheelchair van or ambulance, but those vehicles would not be large enough to accommodate the veteran, his or her family, and medical staff. And buying a larger vehicle for this purpose would be difficult due to the financial restraints Lifestar faces as a non-profit.
Paine decided a used smaller bus would be perfect for this service. He reached out to Valley Regional Transit (VRT), who will provide him with a smaller bus that was destined to be sold for scrap. The 2011 Ford 450 bus has eight seats and can accommodate four wheelchairs.
Leslie Pedrosa, VRT Chief Operations Officer, said the bus was beyond its useful life per Federal Transit Administration schedules and has been replaced in the VRT fleet.
“It was our pleasure to work with Bud and Lifestar to secure a vehicle for this service,” Pedrosa said. “The fact that this bus will have a second life and provide an honorable service to our veterans in hospice care is amazing and something that will provide the family a lifetime of memories.“
“Without this vehicle donation, it would have been at least another year before we could have secured one,” Paine explained. “This would not be happening now.”
Paine is already thinking about who may be one of the first passengers to ride on the bus. “A lady at the VA said one of her hospice patients retired as a park ranger and wants to go back to what he called ‘his mountains,’“ Paine said. “We’ll try to make that happen.”