Waupaca County Post

Top Menu

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Advertiser Index
  • Subscribe
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • Clintonville Tribune Gazette
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • New London Press Star
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca County Post

Main Menu

  • Home
  • News
    • Video
    • Clintonville News
    • Hortonville News
    • Iola-Scandi News
    • Manawa News
    • New London News
    • Waupaca News
    • Wega-Fremont News
    • Business
  • Covid 19
  • Sports
    • Clintonville Sports
    • Iola-Scandy Sports
    • Manawa Sports
    • New London Sports
      • Leagues
      • Sports
      • Park & Rec Activities
    • Waupaca Sports
    • Wega-Fremont Sports
    • Hortonville Sports
    • Outdoor
    • High School Sports Scores
  • Courts
  • Opinion
  • Obits
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Legal Ads
    • Our Legals
    • Statewide
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Advertiser Index
  • Subscribe
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • Clintonville Tribune Gazette
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • New London Press Star
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca County Post

logo

Waupaca County Post

  • Home
  • News
    • Video
    • Clintonville News
    • Hortonville News
    • Iola-Scandi News
    • Manawa News
    • New London News
    • Waupaca News
    • Wega-Fremont News
    • Business
  • Covid 19
  • Sports
    • Clintonville Sports
    • Iola-Scandy Sports
    • Manawa Sports
    • New London Sports
      • Leagues
      • Sports
      • Park & Rec Activities
    • Waupaca Sports
    • Wega-Fremont Sports
    • Hortonville Sports
    • Outdoor
    • High School Sports Scores
  • Courts
  • Opinion
  • Obits
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Legal Ads
    • Our Legals
    • Statewide
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
Waupaca News
Home›News›Waupaca News›Visitors tour Go Riteway

Visitors tour Go Riteway

By WaupacaNow
October 31, 2019
1667
0
CN-WP-riteway2-191031-JUMP CN-WP-riteway4-191031-FRONT
<
►
>
City Administrator Aaron Jenson speaks with Go Riteway officials on Oct. 24, during an open house at the new Waupaca terminal. Angie Landsverk Photo

Waupaca bus terminal holds open house

By Angie Landsverk


Community members visited Go Riteway Transportation Group’s new Waupaca terminal during an open house on Oct. 24.

“We’re thrilled to be here. We’re thrilled to be part of the community, and we hope we have a long-term partnership,” said Bob Zanotti, the company’s president.

The 6,000-square-foot building is at 1864 Godfrey Drive, in Waupaca’s business park.

Construction began last November and was completed in the summer.

The Waupaca School District began contracting with the company for its bus transportation services last school year.

“We’ve been a family-owned operation since 1957,” said Ron Bast.

His parents, Rollie and Pearl Bast, started the company that year with four school buses.

They serviced the Germantown School District, north of Milwaukee.

Today the company runs about 25 facilities in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, he said.

“We thank you for becoming a part of our family,” Zanotti said.

Larger, more modern facility

Lee Nowicki is the operations manager of the Waupaca terminal.

He said the new facility has four bays for maintenance, compared to the two bays it had at is previous location.

“Before, we could barely get the buses in,” Nowicki said.

The maintenance area comprises about 4,000 square feet.

It has a high ceiling and high efficiency LED lights.

There are touch-free lights throughout the building for energy conservation, Nowicki said.

The check-in area for the drivers has a kitchenette.

The office space includes dispatch, a conference room and Nowicki’s office.

The parking lot is equipped for 42 cars and 38 buses, he said.

There are 31 buses at the terminal, with eight of them 2019 or 2020 models, he said.

The average age of the buses is 4.8 years old, Nowicki said.

He said 98% of them are 72-passenger capacity buses.

“All the buses are equipped with at least three cameras,” he said. “The goal is to put a fourth in.”

Prepared for winter

With the buses parked outside, each one has a spot to be plugged into during the colder times of the year.

The automatic timers kick in at 2 a.m., so the buses are guaranteed to start and be ready when drivers arrive, he explained.

When there are open bays in the maintenance area, drivers have the chance to park inside for a week.

“We started that this week,” Nowicki said at the open house.

Drivers are chosen through a lottery system that is based on driver attendance, safety and crashes, as well as attitude and customer service.

There are also four buses for special needs students and a 10-passenger van.

Nowicki said the van may be used by the school district, municipalities, businesses and for charters.

He noted there are a couple homeless families in the district who are currently living in a New London shelter.

The district uses the van to transport the students to and from school here.

Continued growth

“Within the organization, there are just over 1,100 school buses, and we continue to grow,” Nowicki said.

Most of those buses are in southeastern Wisconsin.

“More school districts are reaching out to Go Riteway,” Nowicki said. “We are interested in growing in central Wisconsin and north and west.”

Zanotti said one of the nice things about having so many locations is they help each other all the time.

The terminal managers have a 10 a.m. conference call to compare notes.

Drivers who want extra hours are able to pick up additional routes.

He said there are also such opportunities when high school athletic teams go to state.

Next July, the Democratic National Convention will be in Milwaukee.

Zanotti said Go Riteway is renting a dorm at Carthage College, in Kenosha for its drivers.

“We will have hundreds of vehicles supporting that event,” he said. “It will be our largest black car operation in Wisconsin. Those will be on the road 24/7.”

The company’s motorcoach fleet expanded this year.

On March 1, Go Riteway purchased the Indiana-based Cardinal Coach.

“It was a family company looking for a like minded company,” Zanotti said.

Go Riteway also purchased Lazers Bus Service on Oct. 1.

Zanotti said the company’s motorcoach fleet is now upwards of 150, including motor and mini coaches.

“These are opportunities that we will bring to Waupaca,” he said.

Tagsnewsletter
Previous Article

Lefse at senior center

Next Article

City approves second SRO

Related articles More from author

  • Around Waupaca County

    WCI members in transition

    December 22, 2017
    By WaupacaNow
  • Courts

    Teen faces drug charges

    December 26, 2017
    By WaupacaNow
  • Waupaca News

    Foundry workers earn degrees

    December 27, 2017
    By WaupacaNow
  • CourtszHideFeatured

    Kidnap victim finds justice

    December 27, 2017
    By WaupacaNow
  • Waupaca News

    Catalpa opens in Waupaca

    December 28, 2017
    By WaupacaNow
  • Waupaca News

    Evans Street project planned

    December 28, 2017
    By WaupacaNow

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Free WaupacaNow Newsletter

About Us


Waupaca County Post, New London Press Star and Clintonville Tribune-Gazette are published every Thursday by Multi Media Channels. The papers are locally owned, locally operated and locally written. Subscriptions are $59 annually, delivered via U.S. Postal Service.

To subscribe, go www.shopmmclocal.com/product-category/waupacanow-portal or call 715-258-4360

Timeline

  • July 1, 2022

    Volunteers help make trail projects a reality

  • July 1, 2022

    Governor visits New London

  • June 30, 2022

    Schneider, David J.

  • June 30, 2022

    Kutchenriter, Thomas Lee

  • June 30, 2022

    Iola gets new Ice Age Trail section

Find us on Facebook

Copyright © 2022 Multi Media Channels LLC.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted without the prior written consent of Multi Media Channels LLC.
×