The Vital Communities Transportation Program works with employers, municipalities, school districts, and regional planning commissions to improve transportation options and reduce reliance on driving alone.

Getting Around

The Upper Valley offers great commuting opportunities with transit, carpools, biking, walking, and telecommuting.

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Communities

We work with towns, schools, and community organizations to lower residents’ transportation costs.

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Workplaces

Smart Commute helps Upper Valley employers lower the costs of commuting to work.

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VTEN

The Vermont Transportation Efficiency Network (VTEN) is a group of providers, planners, and advocates who gather to reduce the costs and environmental impacts of our transportation system.

Learn More  >

Advance
Transit
Real-Time

Real-Time Photo Project

Find your bus in real-time and plan your trip at AdvanceTransit.com OR download the iPhone or Android real-time app developed by students from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering.

We’re working with workplaces and communities in the Advance Transit service area over the next year to promote Advance Transit’s real-time system and trip planner. Using proven Community-Based Social Marketing methods, we hope to increase ridership on Advance Transit by making it easier and more routine to take the bus.

Interested in getting your workplace or organization involved? E-mail Bethany@VitalCommunities.org.

What's Happening

Upper Valley Transportation Management Association (UVTMA)

We convene the Upper Valley Transportation Management Association (UVTMA), a membership-based group of workplaces, transportation providers, municipalities, and planners. Dues-paying members are eligible for customized programs and services for their town or workplace.

Join us to help solve the transportation challenges affecting the Upper Valley. E-mail Bethany to learn more about becoming a UVTMA member.

UVTMA Steering Committee

  • Dartmouth-Hitchcock: Dan Dahmen
  • Norwich Energy Committee: Susan Hardy
  • Hanover: Carolyn Radisch
  • Lebanon: Rebecca Owens
  • Hartford: Matt Osborn
  • Dartmouth College: Patrick O’Neill
  • Enfield: Scott Osgood
  • Lyme: Daniel Brand
  • New England Transportation Institute: Matthew Coogan
  • Plainfield: Betsy Rybeck Lynd
  • Lebanon School District: Wanda Hastings
  • Hanover Bicycle/Pedestrian Committee: Scot Drysdale
  • Advance Transit: Van Chestnut
  • Resource Systems Group: Ben Swanson
  • New Hampshire House of Representatives: Patricia Higgins
  • Hypertherm: Stacey Chiocchio
  • Hartland Energy Committee: Karl Kemnitzer
  • UVLSRPC: Meghan Butts, , Steering Committee Chair
  • TRORC: Rita Seto
  • SWCRPC: Jason Rasmussen
  • Southwestern Community Services: Terri Paige
  • Stagecoach:
  • Vital Communities: Bethany Fleishman & Paige Heverly

UVTMA Members

Workplaces
Co-op Food Stores of New Hampshire and Vermont
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Hypertherm
Kendal at Hanover
King Arthur Flour
Greater Lebanon Chamber of Commerce
Mascoma Savings Bank
Resource Systems Group

Municipalities
Town of Enfield
Town of Hanover
Town of Hartford
City of Lebanon
Town of Norwich

Schools
Dresden School District
Lebanon School District

Transit Providers
Advance Transit
Connecticut River Transit
Dartmouth Coach
Southwestern Community Services
Stagecoach Transportation Services

Regional Planning Commissions
South Windsor County Regional Planning Commission
Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission
Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission

Greatest Hits

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Calendar

December 2018

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2
3
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5
  • CRAFT Apprenticeships, Fair Labor, and You: A Dinner and Panel Discussion
6
7
  • Vital Communities 25th Anniversary Celebration "Open House" & Conniption Fits Show
8
9
10
11
12
  • Leadership Upper Valley - Health & Human Services Day
  • FREE WINTER BIKE RIDING WORKSHOP
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
  • UVTMA Monthly Meeting
28
29
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31

Photo Gallery

Vital Communities News

Local First Members Give Back!

Locally owned businesses are rooted in the Upper Valley and donate time and money to the community every month of the year as they support nonprofits, schools, and communities. Keep your dollars where your heart and support ...more

Think Local First and Save!

Local and independent businesses bring value to our communities in many ways: preserving community character, creating stable jobs, supporting area organizations and nonprofits, and strengthening our local economy by keeping our dollars in the Upper ...more

Whole Farm Planning Group

Starting or running a farm business can be all-consuming, with tyranny of the urgent monopolizing your days, leaving little time to think about the big picture, review goals, or plan successful management strategies. Every farm ...more

Think Local First & SAVE this Season!

Local and independent businesses bring value to our communities in many ways: preserving community character, creating stable jobs, supporting area organizations and nonprofits, and strengthening our local economy by keeping our dollars in the Upper ...more

Party Time! Annual Open House & a Concert!

Join us at The Engine Room to celebrate 25 years of Vital Communities making a positive difference in the Upper Valley! Get to know our staff, board, and other supporters while you enjoy wine and ...more

Seeking Bids from Solar Installers by Nov. 30

Vital Communities is teaming up with Kearsarge Climate Action to launch a Solarize Kearsarge campaign in spring 2019, following on the tails of the upcoming Weatherize Kearsarge campaign launching in January 2019. We are seeking proposals ...more

Crossroad Farm is the BOM!

Crossroad Farm is the Local First Alliance November Business of the Month and to celebrate they are raffling off all the fixing for a Thanksgiving feast – a Misty Knoll turkey and basket of local ...more

Crossroad Farm is the BOM!

Crossroad Farm is the November Business of the Month and to celebrate they are raffling off all the fixing for a Thanksgiving feast - a Misty Knoll turkey and basket of local veggies! Visit the their ...more

Thank you, Ben!

This summer we had the privilege of working with Ben Fletcher, pictured second from left. Ben brought an incredibly well suited array of skills to Vital Communities and was a boon to the Valley Quest ...more

2018 Farmer Celebration Mixer

Join us to celebrate the work we did together in 2018! Do your chores early, leave the spreadsheets behind, and come share some beer, crepes, and farm chat with fellow farmers as we celebrate the successful 2018 ...more

Farmers' Market Roundtable

Join Vital Communities and NOFA VT for a Farmers' Market Roundtable November 7, 2018 from 4-7 pm at the Wilder Club & Library in Hartford, Vermont The roundtable is an opportunity to network, share market successes and challenges, gain ...more

Lebanon Area Businesses - Join us on Sept. 27

So many small businesses in the Upper Valley are burdened with high energy costs. And not enough time to do anything about it! We've got some good news for you. A group of Lebanon residents are ...more

Bird and Quest

The Vermont Center for Ecostudies lists 382 species of bird that occur in Vermont, whether year-long resident or migratory visitor. The VCE’s Vermont Atlas of Life citizen science operation has recorded sightings of 332 of ...more

Subbasin Spotlight!

This year's Aquatic Adventure Super Quest showcases the 5 subbasins that make up the Upper Connecticut River Valley, or, more fondly, the Upper Valley. A subbasin is a term used to describe a watershed within a ...more

A Lot Lighter with More Hands: Leadership Upper Valley

On the bright, sunny morning of June 13, Cobb Hill was waking up, and the soon-to-be graduating 2018 Leadership Upper Valley class was just arriving for their final meeting. Before the ceremony at Harpoon Brewery, ...more

Longevity & Commitment: Keynote Remarks from Heroes & Leaders 2018

Editor's Note: Many thanks to Kevin Peterson, Director of Economic Development for the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority, who offered the keynote speech at our May 3 Heroes & Leaders celebration. Read his complete remarks ...more

Long-Standing Stewards: Heroes & Leaders 2018

Every spring, Leadership Upper Valley, a program of Vital Communities, hosts a Heroes & Leaders celebration to recognize individuals who make significant contributions to the greater Upper Valley region. This year, Heroes & Leaders is ...more

Get Stoked on Automated Wood Heat!

Boiler on its last legs? Looking to opt out of fossil fuels? Come learn about today's self-stoking automated wood heat! Opt out of oil with delivery of local wood pellets and whole home wood heating ...more

Read our blog

 

Bethany Fleishman

Transportation Program Manager

Transportation

 802.291.9100 x 111

Transportation

— Bethany Fleishman, Transportation Program Manager

Bethany Fleishman was born at the old Mary Hitchcock hospital in Hanover, N.H., grew up in West Hartford, Vt., and now lives in Hartford Village, where she can see the White River and the trains from her window. She has a biology degree from St. Lawrence University and has worked in public health outreach, as a line cook in San Francisco, a pastry chef in Hanover, and as a member of the Town of Hartford Selectboard. She serves on the board of directors for both Advance Transit and Upper Valley CarShare and is a lifelong bike commuter.



Paige Heverly

Energy and Transportation Project Coordinator

Transportation, Energy

 802.291.9100 x 114

Transportation, Energy

— Paige Heverly, Energy and Transportation Project Coordinator

Paige Heverly joined Vital Communities in 2017 as the Energy and Transportation Project Coordinator. Hailing from the suburbs of Philadelphia, she moved to Vermont in 2011 and earned a joint BA in Renewable Energy and Ecological Design and Environmental Studies from Green Mountain College. After completing her Master of Energy Regulation and Law from Vermont Law School, Paige worked in energy efficiency consulting in Portland, Oregon. Her love of local food systems, the White River, and the Green Mountains brought her back to the Upper Valley to work on regional issues with localized solutions. Paige is passionate about closing ecological loops and treating waste as food. In her free time, she enjoys baking homemade English muffins, weeding her garden, and writing letters to her pen pals.