Operating with a grant from the state’s social
services department, Cline launched Spearfish
Senior Transportation with a single 1979 van
operating four hours per day. This small service
grew into a coordinated public transit system
today operating across 16,500 square miles.
With eight bus facilities, 45 vehicles, and
nearly 60 employees, Prairie Hills Transit is
now the main public transportation provider
for nine rural counties in South Dakota.
Because of the scope of its service, ride quality
is always of paramount concern for Cline and
the Prairie Hills Transit team.
“We cover a large area of smaller, rural
communities, and they are often unable
to maintain roads and parking lots at the
same levels as urban municipalities,” Cline
said. “Years ago, we found that many of our
passengers were experiencing rough rides.
We provide many medical trips to people
with fragile medical conditions, so this was
genuinely concerning.”
In February 2018, Cline attended the
Bus Summit at Stone Mountain in Atlanta.
There she met Dean Bartolone President
of LiquidSpring & Travis Ward national
bus sales representative for LiquidSpring.
LiquidSpring’s proprietary “smart” suspension
system is specially tailored for shuttle
buses, ambulances, recreational vehicles,
and military transportation. After visiting
with Mr. Bartolone & Mr. Ward, Cline and
her team decided to participate in a system
demonstration.
“We were fascinated that Prairie Hills
Transit basically redefined transit in
rural South Dakota,” Ward said. “Upon
meeting Barb, we found her to be extremely
knowledgeable and proactive about finding a
solution for her drivers and passengers.”
“We told her how our system could help
Prairie Hills Transit,” he added. “Whenever
someone hears something that seems too good
to be true, they’re obviously very skeptical –
and that was the case here. So, a demonstration
was a perfect opportunity.”
The LiquidSpring suspension
Ward said that the proprietary LiquidSpring
Suspension System is a uniquely “smart”
system, which means that an on-board
processor automatically adjusts the
suspension’s ride based on the terrain and
roads over which it travels. Over rough roads,
the ride is soft and smooth; and the system
automatically stiffens for cornering around
sharp turns or emergency maneuvers.
Using an interactive user interface,
drivers can manually switch ride modes,
adjust the suspension’s height, and mitigate
troubleshooting issues.
Ward said that the resulting vibration results
in less maintenance and more reliability,
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