By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – A better system of transportation is one the way for the elderly and disabled in Western New York. Olympic Management Systems announced Thursday it will open a new $3 million transportation hub in Buffalo.
The Snyder family is known for taking a small idea and turning it into a bigger one. Paul Snyder, III, is CEO for Olympic Management. The company bought part of We Care Transportation from bankruptcy last year. Now, the acquisition is serving as a launch pad for a coordinated transportation center. The Center for Transportation Excellence will provide shared training, purchasing and management services at a cost to about fifty local profit and not for profit businesses that transport the elderly and disabled. Snyder says they hope to set the trend with the area's first example of what he called social entrepreneurialism.
Snyder says the idea grew out of a desperate need for coordinated, more cost-effective and efficient services for the elderly and disabled who depend on them. Virginia Oehler is chairwoman for the center's governing board. Oehler whose worked for years in the not-for profit sector knows how important it to keep people connected to the community. Getting them there, she says, has been the challenge.
Transportation providers will still operate independently, but could combine some routes to make services more efficient. Savings are also expected from shared training, bulk fuel purchases and lower insurance rates.
The center, to be located on East Amherst Street next to We Care, is expected to open next spring and could create 140 new jobs.
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