Missoula Powershift

This weekend a delegation of SAVE's Americorps workers and Carroll students traveled west to Missoula to attend the Rocky Mountain Powershift conference at the University of Montana campus. There, we attended presentations and workshops designed to produce effective youth advocates for the environment through grassroots campaigning and alternative consumption and organization. Highlights included a Skyped keynote address from BIll McKibben, a small group discussion with student transit coordinators running the campus's fleet of nine buses, a one-on-one discussion with business cooperative specialists, and community buy-in strategizing with Adventure Cycling Association representatives. In all, we came away with new friends and opportunities to expand on our current work. Keep your eyes on SAVE for future announcements!

SAVE Radio Episode 2 - Interview with Steve Larson, HATS Supervisor

Another successful broadcast has come and gone, and I'm proud to announce that the program had its first interview! I spoke to Steve Larson, the new director of the Helena Area Transit Service (HATS), about how the program serves the city, his vision for its future, and what needs to happen for us to get there. As it stands right now, the service is broken down into a fixed route and a curbside pickup service. The pickup service reaches the all of Helena, but the fixed route serves a relatively limited area of the city, leaving out some neighborhoods on the east and west sides of the city. These areas are important to getting new riders for future operations, but how to get them is the big question. There is a proposed creation of a transit district, which would levy a tax on homes above a certain value threshold to provide funding for new equipment and routes, which could be on a ballot as early as this summer. Other ideas include creating new fixed routes that have been known to be successful in the past, such as a government complex pilot program that saw over 10,000 rides given over its one year operation. In either case, there is a need to know where the new riding constituency is coming from to better accommodate future expansions and this is one of the goals that Larson has set. There will also need to be a change in the proportion of fixed route services to curbside pickups, as pickups are the least efficient use of the shuttle vehicles. Moving forward, HATS will need to find the right balance of services to make sure that it is operating as efficiently as possible!

Also don't forget about the music! Here is last night's playlist:
The Flaming Lips - Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (4:51)
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (3:57)
Animal Collective - Bluish (5:14)
Beach House - Zebra (4:49)
Vampire Weekend - Horchata (3:27)
The Morning Benders - Excuses (5:17)
TV On The Radio - Killer Crane (6:15)
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (5:26)
Band of Horses - The Funeral (5:22)
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill (3:50)
The Virgins - One Week of Danger (2:45)
The Black Keys - Next Girl (3:18)

Linx Meeting in West Yellowstone

This past Wednesday Linx held its annual board meeting in West Yellowstone, Montana. Many shareholders, providers and staff converged to help decide what the next moves are for the cooperative, and to further define its vision. We have several important announcements:

1) This summer in Yellowstone, look to Linx service providers for your transportation needs throughout the park. Last year's pilot program provided the insight and experience needed to re-calibrate our service plans and better serve those who want to get the Yellowstone experience without the responsibility or liability of private transport.

2) As our membership grows, so too does the capability of our web store. We are working to streamline the booking abilities already available and integrate new carriers into the schedule to make transfers as efficient as possible!

3) Linx will be experimenting with new technologies to make your ride simple and intuitive. These include on board GPS and wifi services so that you can surf the web and track your progress (or that of a bus you're about to take), and are testing the viability of smart cards that you can pre-load and swipe whenever you want to be on the move.


Linx is the first organization of its kind to address the needs of rural transit and connectivity. While still growing and developing, the lessons learned and the drive to succeed that our providers and staff have shown has been nothing short of inspiring. With your support and feedback, we'll become the standard for travel around the Greater Yellowstone Region. Book a trip or drop us a line at linx.coop!

SAVE Radio Takes to the Air!

I am proud to announce that SAVE now has a weekly broadcast! Tune in to 88.5 KROL every Thursday from 5-6 p.m. to hear the latest news and interviews concerning transit progress here in Helena and throughout the state! The program will be loosely structured to be around 25-30 minutes of news and the rest music. Playlists will be posted after each show so you can go and support the artists you like. This week's is as follows:

Atmosphere - Yesterday (3:24)
Jurassic 5 - Concrete Playground (4:08)
Common - The People (3:25)
Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass (4:04)
Talib Kweli - I Try (4:25)
Mos Def - Auditorium (4:35)
Lupe Fiasco - Daydreamin’ (3:55)
Illecism & Trade Voorhees - Greener Grass (3:55)
The Fugees - Killing Me Softly with His Song (4:59) (cut out about 10 sec early)
De La Soul - The Magic Number (3:16)
Jay-Z - Roc Boys (4:12)
Nappy Roots - Down N’ Out (4:28)
Brother Ali - Forest Whitaker (3:00)

Ride Linx and Explore More!

S.A.V.E. is proud to announce that it has, in partnership with the Helena Area Transit Service, secured a board seat with Linx, the up and coming regional transit cooperative that brings together travel providers from all across the Greater Yellowstone region! This position gives Helena-based cooperative members a great presence among the provider community and will prepare the way for greater integration along the northern reaches of Linx's current area of operation.



I would like to thank HATS Manager Steve Larson, Yellowstone Business Partnership Executive Director Jan Brown, and SAVE Director Matt Elsaesser for their encouragement to seek this position and the support that has brought S.A.V.E. to this moment.

Check out the site, learn more and design your own adventure!