“I’ve got Link”: One rider’s case for getting on board

WENATCHEE — The Link Transit board had spent the afternoon moving through the mechanics of running a public transportation system, approving agendas, reviewing reports and discussing service plans, when the tone shifted.

From a seat in the audience inside the agency’s third-floor boardroom, Juanita Ruhnke spoke up during public comment with something less technical and more personal: a thank-you.

“I am a daily rider of LinkPlus,” Ruhnke told the board. “And I love Link and LinkPlus.”

Ruhnke, a Chelan County resident, described a service she said has become part of her everyday life, not just for convenience, but for reliability and care.

“I’ve seen them take wheelchairs, walkers, scooters,” she said, referring to the drivers who operate the service. “And not once do they ever, ever complain. They’re always on time.”

Her comments centered on LinkPlus, the agency’s door-to-door paratransit service designed for riders whose disabilities prevent them from using fixed-route buses. The service operates by reservation, often grouping riders traveling in the same direction, and is provided free of charge, like all Link Transit services.

For Ruhnke, the value of that service is simple and tangible.

“I’ve got a car. I say, ‘No, I’ve got Link,’” she said.

Speaking as a businesswoman, Ruhnke said she understands the realities behind how services like LinkPlus are funded, but said the benefit to the community is clear.

“I truly believe in them,” she said.

She encouraged others, including the board itself, to experience the system firsthand.

“I challenge or encourage every one of you to ride the bus,” Ruhnke said. “No gas, no insurance, no tires.”

Board Chair Erin McCardle thanked Ruhnke following her remarks, noting it was “nice to have positive comments.”

In a meeting focused largely on hiring decisions, performance metrics and long-range planning, Ruhnke’s testimony offered something harder to measure and easier to recognize: what it feels like when a public service works.

Not in charts or percentages, but in the quiet certainty of a ride that arrives, a driver who waits, and a system that, at least for one rider, has already proven its worth.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media