Photo By Michelle Winter | Starting Sept. 22, Fort Drum community members can use a free on-post transit service...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Sept. 18, 2025) -- Need a ride to The Peak, Magrath Sports Complex, or the USO?
Alpine Express can get you there!
Starting Sept. 22, Fort Drum community members can use a free on-post transit service with more than 50 stops across the cantonment and Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield.
The route includes dining facilities, fitness and recreational centers, the Post Exchange and Commissary, housing community centers, barracks, and medical and dental clinics.
“We believe Alpine Express will be a huge boost to the quality of life for Fort Drum community members by improving accessibility and making it easier for people to get where they need to be,” said Christine Robinson, Fort Drum Plans, Analysis and Integration Office (PAIO) management and program analyst. “We’re all excited to see this service start.”
Fort Drum officials met with local and state leaders during a community partner symposium in June 2024 where they discussed potential services that could be provided through an Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA). On-post transportation was among them.
Soon after, the Fort Drum PAIO began conceptualizing a mass transit plan which led to an IGSA with Lewis County. Lewis County Public Transit already had a bus route from Lowville that traveled to the installation called the Fort Drum Circuit Route.
“Getting started without knowing anything about developing a public transportation system was definitely a challenge,” Robinson said. “Thankfully, our partners at Army Field Support Battalion-Drum and Public Works shared their knowledge and our Lewis County partners were pros at public transportation.”
Robinson said they released a survey last summer to gather community input about public transportation.
“We received a total of 563 responses, which I thought was a great response with a good mix of Soldiers, family members and civilians participating,” she said. “Results showed that the majority of respondents would utilize the service because they do not currently own a vehicle, do not currently have a driver’s license, or are in a one-vehicle household.”
One of the challenges in establishing an installation bus route was determining the number of locations for buses, knowing that more stops would mean longer wait times. There is one bus line dedicated to a main post (North) route, with another for South Post and the airfield. The Peak will serve as the transfer point between the two lines.
Robinson said everyone involved in the planning agreed that the route must accommodate Soldiers during meal hours and stops in the housing areas.
“Initially, there were roughly 114 stops because of our large housing areas,” she said. “This was not feasible due to how long it took to get from point A to point B. So, it had to be cut to 53 stops across the installation to include the airfield. Although, right now, the route may not stop at every location someone may want, it will decrease the distance one may have to walk significantly.”
To that end, Robinson said that data will be collected over time to reevaluate stops and the route as a whole. She said the first year of operation will be crucial to determining how it can better serve the community.
“Utilization is the key to securing future funding and continual improvement for the community,” she said. “This will be an ever-evolving service getting better each year.”
This was a message that senior commanders articulated at the Community Information Exchange on Sept. 3.
“I see all the staff duty reports every day, and I see that Soldiers and family members talk about a bus service,” said Brig. Gen. Adam Cobb, 10th Mountain Division deputy commander for operations. “So our garrison team has done great work in getting this, but we need to get the word out. If we don’t use it, we’ll lose it.”
Col. Jason Adler, Fort Drum garrison commander, said previous shuttle services on post were military-operated – Army buses with Soldiers as drivers – and that proved to be unsustainable and had a limited route that didn’t meet the needs of the entire community.
“It was maybe not quite as reliable as what we wanted,” he said. “And now we are addressing every issue that we had before with our fantastic partner from Lewis County so that we have a good, consistent route.”
Adler said the funding for the bus service expires in a year, so an extension would be dependent on the community’s response.
“Ridership will be essential,” he said. “We need to make sure people know about Alpine Express, where they can get on the bus, and where it can take them.”
After the soft opening on Sept. 22, an Alpine Express ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled Sept. 26 to acknowledge the collective efforts in bringing the new transit service to Fort Drum.
Once Alpine Express is activated on post, riders can view the route map, arrival schedule and service alerts through the free Transit app. The app is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
In addition to using the Transit app, information about the bus service will be shared on the Fort Drum website at https://home.army.mil/drum/about/alpine-express, the My Army Post App and at www.facebook.com/drum.10thmountain.
Other things to know about Alpine Express:
*No identification is needed to ride the Alpine Express, it is free, and available to everyone on post.
*Passengers under 12 need to be accompanied by an adult.
*The 35-passenger buses are ADA-compliant and can accommodate wheelchairs, strollers, and shopping bags.
*The free Transit app provides real-time estimate time of arrival for each route stop. It also provides service alerts for schedule changes.
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.18.2025 08:07 |
| Story ID: | 548501 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 682 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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