SVRTA chairwoman letting new leader take the wheel

DEPARTING — Susan Hogue, outgoing chairwoman of the Steel Valley Regional Transit Authority board of directors, stood by an SVRTA bus with assistance from her driver, Don Martin. -- Christopher Dacanay
STEUBENVILLE — It’s been a long ride for Susan Hogue, outgoing chairwoman of the Steel Valley Regional Transit Authority board of directors. Now, after more than a decade, she’s letting a new leader take the wheel.
Blind since birth, Hogue was an essential contributor to the SVRTA’s disabled consumer committee before joining the board and becoming its chair. Her final term will end Feb. 16, after which current board member Alex “Cookie” West will assume leadership — another addition to her extensive community service record.
“I had a long working relationship with (Hogue),” said transit manager Tim Turner, who’s worked with her since entering his position in 2018. “I’ve gotten a lot of advice from her over the years, and I think she did a fantastic job as board chair.”
“I look forward to working with Cookie,” Turner added. “She’s young, she rode the buses when she was younger, she saw what the transit system was many years ago and saw what it transformed into when I took over. Obviously, she’s happy with it. I look forward to working with Cookie and all the rest of the board members. They’re great people to work with and gain knowledge from.”
Hogue, who’s originally from Pittsburgh, earned a degree in sociology in 1966 from the College of Steubenville, now Franciscan University of Steubenville. She got her first job with the Jefferson County welfare department a month after graduating and stayed there for six years — handling all the work herself, with occasional help from a volunteer reader.
“I don’t want to say it was just because of my lack of vision, but it probably was,” Hogue said of her attraction to social work. “I’m the oldest of five children — four girls and a boy. Out of us four girls, three of us were blind. … There were things going on that my poor parents didn’t know how to handle. … To learn how to handle myself, I had to learn to help somebody else, so I thought: ‘I can do that.'”
Hogue later began working for the state’s Rehabilitation Services Commission. After 30 years with the state, Hogue was looking to retire, but John Beck — then-director of the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission — asked if she’d be interested in directing a handicap committee for a developing bus company.
Composed of local individuals with disabilities, the committee would provide feedback to the bus company about meeting the needs of those individuals. Hogue accepted the volunteer role and gathered five other individuals to constitute the group.
“In my job (at the time), I was supposed to do that kind of stuff. … My job was vocational counselor, so transportation was big because, if I got clients here in the area, they couldn’t get to a job. … Most of my clients, their main disability was blindness, so they couldn’t drive to get place to place. That was a microcosm of why kids were leaving the area — because they couldn’t get to work.”
Hogue continued her involvement with the company, which evolved into SVRTA. She regularly attended board meetings and observed the work of founder Robert J. Cutri, who taught her about managing a business and adhering to government directives.
In 2004, Steubenville Mayor Domenick Mucci Jr. appointed Hogue to the SVRTA board, and in 2010, she rose to become its chair.
The board includes eight members, four of whom represent Steubenville, with the rest being divided between Mingo Junction and Wintersville. The members are Steubenville’s Hogue, West, William Hendricks and Jennifer Beal; Mingo Junction’s Wayne Ruckman and Ernest Wilson; and Wintersville’s Robert Laukert and Charlene Prentice.
Hogue’s tenure on the board has spanned three transit managers and one interim manager. She also oversaw the construction of the SVRTA’s multi-modal center on Adams Street in Steubenville.
Hogue is proud of the SVRTA’s accomplishments — improving its services that give independence to elderly or disabled individuals and connect many with employment.
“We’re connected from the Highlands and St. Clairsville up to Rayland, to Steubenville, to Wintersville, then to Pittsburgh. That was a big accomplishment,” Hogue said, adding that she hopes the SVRTA can continue to expand its routes throughout Jefferson County.
Hogue, who’s also served on the boards for Prime Time and an independent living facility in New Philadelphia, has already given West her gavel, which was made by a retired bus driver. West is “outgoing” and known throughout Jefferson County, which will be a major benefit to the SVRTA board, Hogue said.
West currently serves as employment navigator for the Jefferson County Board of Developmental Disabilities. She’s been on the SVRTA board for the past three years and has been active on other area transportation boards to “shine a light on the need to improve services for those with developmental disabilities,” according to a release from the developmental disabilities board.
“I was appointed by Mayor Jerry Barilla, and I have been involved with transportation in Jefferson County and the surrounding region,” West stated in the release. “As an employment navigator, my role is to assist students aged 14 and older in transitioning to adulthood. This involves more than just securing employment; it’s about helping them overcome barriers and adjust to adult life. Many students have expressed that they are facing challenges with transportation to work.”
West’s other transportation work includes the Ohio Mid-East Governments Association Region 9 Steering Committee and Mobility Partnership for Human Services.
Presented by BHJ, the mobility partnership offers an array of transportation services, from health care to employment, aimed at reducing barriers between citizens and transportation. The partnership aspires to reduce operating costs and conserve available resources, among other goals.
The steering committee, meanwhile, centers around policy guidance for federal funding for regional projects and recommends projects to OMEGA’s Regional Coordination Council. Members represent human services, planning officials and public transit providers from Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Muskingum and Tuscarawas counties.
West said she hopes to carry on her own transportation goals, as well as Hogue’s.
“Sue works with many groups and was a great mentor. I learned a lot by sitting on the board with her,” West said. “She’s very passionate about mobility for all residents in Jefferson County.”