About Us
Dickinson Public Transit office
is located at:
361 26th Street East
Dickinson, ND 58601
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History of Dickinson Public Transit
To improve the quality of transportation service for special needs individuals within the city of Dickinson, a City of Dickinson Transportation Board was formed. As a result of this board’s efforts, transportation for this specialized group was consolidated under the umbrella of Elder Care in September 1991. As a part of these consolidation efforts, what was known as the special needs rides would be provided during week daytime hours by means of the Elder Care buses and by the local taxi service during evenings and weekend hours. Elder Care’s fleet of buses has grown from one bus in 1978 to a fleet of five buses in 2000. As of May 2017, we operate with ten vehicles (four buses and six vans). Transit services are offered to the Dickinson community, with trips to Bismarck weekly and trips to surrounding towns pending driver and vehicle availability.
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In February 2012, Elder Care and Public Transit moved into a newly constructed building in Dickinson. This building was constructed with stimulus money through the North Dakota Department of Transportation. Elder Care and Public Transit are housed in this building with utilities being paid by the City of Dickinson.
Elder Care/Dickinson Public Transit Executive Directors - Current to Past
Colleen Rodakowski (5/12/08 – Present)
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Elder Care extended its hours of operation on April 1, 2009 to provide taxi service, and its hours of operation and staff grew significantly. Elder Care began to advertise its transit services open to the public under the name “Public Transit.” In February 2012, Elder Care/Public Transit moved into a newly constructed building paid for by stimulus dollars from NDDOT with utilities being paid by the City of Dickinson. A pilot restaurant voucher program called Cafe 60 was offered in May 2015 and is currently awaiting state-wide approval. Colleen was the executive director of Business Challenge.
Midge Kuntz (1/01/2002 – 5/11/2008)
Midge spearheaded the acquisition of transit software to assist in providing and processing rides efficiently. She was the Elder Care bookkeeper under Lucy Kostelecky.
Lucy Kostelecky (12/1990 - 12/31/2001)
Golden Valley and Billings Counties were added in January 1991. Lucy was a registered nurse with an administrative background. Lucy was instrumental in securing Dickinson City Sales Tax as a funding source for Elder Care.
Aimee Bachmeier (1989 – 1990)
Aimee Bachmeier was director of RSVP when the RSVP Advisory Council appointed the first management board for Elder Care. Aimee initially was bookkeeper for Elder Care.
Elvice Vold (1979 – 1989)
More counties were added during Elvice’s time as director. Elvice changed the name from Senior Meals Program to Elder Care as more counties were added. When Elvice retired, the RSVP Advisory Council took over rather than shut down the Elder Care program due to inadequate funding sources.
Karen Parke (1977-1979)
Karen Parke was Elder Care’s first executive director. Health maintenance was started in 1977 to go along with meals. In 1977 or 1978 SCCOA wrote the first grant proposal for the bus to deliver meals and participants to the Senior Center. Elder Care was just a program administered through SCCOA. A contest county wide chose the name. Stark County Senior Meals and Bus Service were started in 1979.
Dickinson Public Transit is governed by the Elder Care/Dickinson Public Transit Board of Directors
Jenn Quigley - President
Deb Harsche - Vice President
Gary Ramsey - Secretary
Muriel Hurt - Board Member
Tim Oech - Board Member
Reggie Robertson - Board Member
Regular Elder Care/Dickinson Public Transit board meetings are held monthly at 10:30 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month, at Players Bar and Grill and via Teams. Please call our office at (701) 456-1818 for additional information.
The November/December board meeting will be held December 14, 2023 at 10:30am.