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Shuttle ends after decade of service

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Tara A. Williamson
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The joint base shuttle service, which most people might recognize as the white bus that typically drives around, transporting service members throughout the joint base, will no longer be available as of March 31.

The shuttle, which has been supported by the Overseas Contingency Operations fund for the past ten years, is no longer needed as fewer operations are taking place overseas and fewer deploying members are transitioning through the base. Other options are available for service members needing transportation to official appointments.

Although the bus has been available to everyone on the installation, it is actually meant for service members in mobilizing and demobilizing status.

"A lot of training units come in and utilize the shuttle," said 2nd Lt. Jayson Sexton, 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron deployment distribution deputy flight commander. "However, unless they were primarily assigned to the [mobilization] mission, they were only utilizing the space available service."

There will not be a replacement shuttle due to lack of funding, said Senior Master Sgt. Richard Barker, 87th LRS deployment distribution flight superintendent. However, people can call the 87th LRS dispatch office and request the taxi service for official purposes only, for instance, medical appointments or replacement ID cards.

"The base taxi is considered a low-priority service based on flying operations or troop movement," Barker said. "Taxi call requests will come after the base missions. It might not be an immediate response, but we will take the calls and provide an answer, whether it's a pick-up in 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or even two hours, you will get an answer."

The base taxi service is not intended to be used for trips to the Exchange, Base Theater or any other personal outings.

Members looking for the base taxi can call (609) 754-3004. For more information about LRS vehicle services, call (609) 754-5493.