For the first time in its 46 year history, there will be a free bus shuttling people up from the MTA Train Station to Main Street for the Spirit of Beacon Day. The draw is that there is free parking at the train station, but it’s a lengthy walk. Dutchess County has offered to dedicate one free bus on that day, according to the Spirit of Beacon Committee.

“City Administrator Chris White suggested it during one of our planning meetings early on, and I reached out to Dutchess County at his suggestion. I didn’t think they would say yes, but learned that Amanda was very enthusiastic about it. Amanda made sure to include Forrestal Heights as a designated pickup point, to help people near there as well,” said Katie Hellmuth, Chair of the Spirit of Beacon Day Committee. “Police Chief Sands Frost was on the planning call to figure out the route, and while it was looking like the bus was too wide to make it work at most intersections, we figured out a plan.”

Amanda Sammon, Assistant Director of Public Transit for Dutchess County, along with the support of Michael Grattini, Director of Public Transit, with the encouragement of Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White, spearheaded the move to designate the free shuttle bus for Spirit of Beacon Day attendees who are parking for free in the MTA Train parking lot, as well as those living in the Forrestal Heights community and surrounding area. The drop-off point for attendees will be Main Street and Fishkill Avenue, but up a little further near the Salvation Army parking lot, so as not to crowd that intersection.

This bus will not impact or replace other bus routes that go on Sunday.

How The Free Bus Will Work For Spirit Of Beacon Day

SERVICE SCHEDULE
Service will run from 11am-4:30pm, with a break between 1-2pm, when the parade runs. The Spirit of Beacon Day ends at 4pm, but the Committee wanted to add the half hour to help get people back to the train station parking lot, if that’s where they are going, said Katie.

The route loop will take 20-25 minutes to complete

The Shuttle Bus will begin at the Beacon Train Station at 11am. It will continue driving the route on the map shown above until 1pm, at which point the driver will park at the Beacon Train Station and take a lunch break.

This route should take approximately 20 to 25 minutes to perform the entire loop, so riders will not have to wait too long if they miss it the first time.

At 2pm, the Shuttle Bus will leave the Beacon Train Station and continue performing the same loops until 4:30pm. The Shuttle Bus will only load/unload passengers at the three agreed upon stops:

Beacon MTA Train Station
The intersection of Route 52/Fishkill Avenue and Main Street (with the actual stop at the Salvation Army driveway)
Forrestal Heights

More Free Parking In Beacon Municipal Lots

The DMV parking lot on Main Street is open to the public for parking, as the Beacon Farmer’s Market has graciously agreed to close for the Spirit of Beacon Day. The Henry Street Lot will also be open for free parking, as the Beacon Flea has also graciously agreed to close. According to both of their contracts, this notice to close for the Spirit of Beacon Day to open up parking has been in their contracts over the number of years they have occupied the lots.

The DMV parking lot is in the middle of Main Street before the road closure for vendor tables on Main Street. It is one of the most convenient lots.

The Henry Street parking lot is one block over from Main Street, and can be gotten to by taking side streets.