Two shuttle services are vying for customers travelling between the Upper Valley and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. Upper Valley Shuttle in West Lebanon and Upper Valley Ride to the Airport in Grantham both started offering shuttle rides to Manchester around the beginning of the year. While options existed for shuttle service to Logan Airport in Boston, those seeking to fly out of the Granite State had fewer choices, chief among them private limousine services costing a few hundred dollars each way.
By contract, each of the new shuttle services to Manchester costs less than $100 round trip. Upper Valley Shuttle is a division of Avante Limousine & Transportation, which offers private, chauffeured limousine transportation focused on Upper Valley business people, specifically those associated with Dartmouth College and the Tuck School of Business. Sheri Barnes, owner of the four-year-old company, says the new division grew from current clients and Dartmouth students asking about a shared ride service to Manchester. Seeing the demand, Barnes added an eight-passenger business-class van as one of the shuttle vehicles.
Barnes charges $59 one-way or $99 roundtrip. The shuttle runs three times a day and makes four stops (two in Hanover, one in Lebanon and one in Grantham), taking about 1.5 hours to reach Manchester. She says business, though slow at first, has been steadily increasing. Her business is an approved vendor of Dartmouth College, one of the things she says differentiates her from her competitor. "To be honest, we wanted to provide an affordable option for Dartmouth students and Dartmouth college families," she says, adding she expects the business to be especially busy during college vacation weeks and move in/out times. "We also know that there is a market in our area just of passengers that travel on a personal level and would like an affordable way to go and don't necessarily need private chauffeured transportation."
Upper Valley Ride to the Airport offers a similar service. Owner Randy Heller says his service uses a seven-passenger SUV and makes three runs a day, stopping in New London next to Colby Sawyer College and over the border in Vermont in addition to Hanover, Lebanon and Grantham. "I used to be a travelling executive and I was on the road three out of four weeks a month and always went to Manchester," says Heller, who operated his private car service for one-and-a-half years before adding the shuttle service in mid-December 2010. The service is aimed at people looking for a comfortable, yet affordable ride. Business has doubled since January.
Heller's service regularly costs $59 one-way and $98 round trip, but he offers a deal of $49 one-way for students, seniors and those affiliated with Dartmouth, and $88 round trip from Hanover for those affiliated with the college.
For more information, visit Upper Valley Shuttle at www.uvshuttle.com and Upper Valley Ride to the Airport at www.uvridetotheairport.com.
Current Issue - May 2024