Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

DAYTON–Columbia County Public Transportation received some good press in December's Public Transportation Mobility Report published by the Washington State Department of Transportation. It tells a story of grit and determination to deliver safe, accessible public transportation by any means. Here's what public transportation officials and the public read about in the report:

Columbia County Public Transportation General Manager David Ocampo feels that bus-stop accessibility is the responsibility of all transit agencies, and that transit agencies should work directly with their municipalities, communities, and businesses on bus-stop improvements. For David and the rest of Columbia County Public Transportation's staff of 13, nowhere was this truer than the small town of Dayton on US 12, which had only one bus shelter that the city acquired way back in 2004.

With a single shelter in Dayton, most of Columbia County Public Transportation riders didn't have a designated place to wait for the bus. What's more, the agency serves a high percentage of people 55 and older, many of whom have disabilities. New bus shelters would improve safety for these riders by providing safe, accessible, well-marked places to wait for the bus out of the elements. The shelters would also be a low-barrier, low-tech way to communicate with folks who aren't on social media or have limited access to phone or email by providing a place to display flyers and information about the agency's services.

David had a goal of putting in eight new bus shelters in Dayton, spread out along Columbia County Public Transportation's most popular pick-up areas. He applied for and was awarded Rural Mobility Grant Program funding for the project in May 2021. What happened between then and June 2023 shows the sheer dedication of David and the entire Columbia County Public Transportation staff.

Early on, pandemic-era supply chain disruptions caused an aluminum shortage, spiking prices of bus shelters. This forced Columbia County Public Transportation to scale down the project to four shelters. And even with scaling, the shelters would take a long time to be delivered.

Then, in November 2021, David was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment to prepare for a stem cell transplant. He worked remotely from Seattle for eight months while undergoing treatment.

-Submitted photo

David Ocampo, Mark Haney, Ivan Macedo and Megan Schmidt of CCPT put in some elbow grease with the new Dayton rider shelters.

But David's wasn't the only recovery his staff had to plan for. One driver/dispatcher was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgery in March 2022. Another driver had a heart attack and had surgery in May 2022. For a staff of 13, three folks out is a lot to make up for. Columbia County Public Transportation had to shift responsibilities and put projects on hold to accommodate their recoveries.

Back at work in July 2022-and with the shelters finally delivered after a long wait-David knew it was time to literally dig in and get the work done. His savvy team decided to save on funds and time by installing the shelters themselves – including David himself! The first stop took eight hours to install, but the pace quickened, and the team worked its way down to four hours per stop.

Through their sweat equity, David and the whole Columbia County Public Transportation team exemplify public service and a dedication to access for all.

The Rural Mobility Grant Program contributed $60,000 in the 2021-2023 biennium for Columbia County Public Transportation's project to install bus shelters in the city of Dayton, 80 percent of the project cost.