Big Bear News – Big Bear Lake, CA – The Big Bear Chamber of Commerce proudly recognizes Mountain Transit as a 2026 Excellence in Business Award recipient, honoring the organization’s remarkable transformation, community impact, and innovative leadership under General Manager Sandy Benson. What began as a small, limited transit service in December 1993 has become one of Big Bear Valley’s most visible success stories, delivering over one million free rides a year across the mountaintop communities and redefining what public transportation can mean for a mountain region.
When Sandy became General Manager in 2020, after seven years with the organization, she already had a clear understanding of what she wanted to accomplish. Driver turnover was high, community trust was low, and ridership had remained stagnant for many years. The sentiment was that this little rural transportation agency had no path for growth.
Sandy didn’t accept that.
Her first step was investing in people. She secured Board approval for fair, competitive wages for staff, strengthened the maintenance team, and began rebuilding the internal culture around pride, reliability, and service.
To move the organization forward, Sandy sought guidance from local leaders, including then City Manager Frank Rush. His advice was to “tackle each improvement one at a time,” which became the road map for Mountain Transit’s evolution.
The turning point came during the pandemic, when Sandy had time to evaluate every aspect of the agency and use Covid funding to not just keep operating but improve service and revamp routes. It was during this time Sandy was able to make her long hoped for vision for fare-free service a reality.
To make fare-free service possible, Sandy built a coalition of partners who believed in the vision. The City of Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Mountain Resort, Big Bear City Airport, County Supervisor Dawn Rowe, and Visit Big Bear all stepped up to help fund and market the Ride Free Now campaign. These contributions supplemented Mountain Transit’s core public funding, which comes from taxpayer dollars, government grants, and local sales tax initiatives such as San Bernardino County’s Measure I funds.
The results were extraordinary.
For two decades, Mountain Transit had averaged 190,000 riders on a $3 million budget. Today, ridership has soared to almost one million, supported by an $8 million operating budget and a staff that has grown from 27 to 77 employees. The fare-free model continues today, with partners covering the cost of rides so the community and visitors can travel safely and easily.
This rapid growth in service and staffing has also created the need for expanded facilities. Mountain Transit recently completed its new maintenance facility on Sandalwood Drive, and renovations are now underway for its new Big Bear Administration and Operations offices at the former Interiors building on Fox Farm Road, scheduled for completion in January 2027. After the Big Bear facilities are completed, work will begin to expand their facilities in Crestline.
Sandy’s philosophy is simple: give employees the tools to succeed, and they will take ownership of the mission. Mountain Transit now runs year-round driver training programs shaped in part by rider feedback. Sandy understands that community input, even when negative, is a valuable resource for training staff. Mountain Transit staff regularly attends community events to share service updates and gather feedback.
Even when allocated funding became unavailable during last year’s budget cycle, Sandy protected employee salaries by combing through the budget line by line and empowering staff to take on new responsibilities. The team rallied, proving that Mountain Transit’s strength is its people.
Sandy also credits Mountain Transit’s Board of Directors for embracing her vision and helping reshape the organization’s culture. Their support, openness to change, and confidence in the direction she proposed created the foundation for the transformation that followed. Together, they built an environment where innovation could take root and long-term success became possible.
Mountain Transit’s growth has been fueled by creative, community-minded partnerships and staff willing to expand their skills in order to support that growth. The new Trolley to Trails program, made possible through the partnership by Visit Big Bear, connects riders to trail heads and outdoor recreation without adding cars to local roads.
During Oktoberfest, Mountain Transit partners with the Big Bear Lake Convention Center to provide free, safe transportation for guests. And a new collaboration with Jazzy Bear Ride Service is underway, exploring ways to expand mobility options without overburdening Mountain Transit’s core system. Sandy also credits the organization’s partnership with KBHR Radio, noting that radio outreach has “been the voice of Mountain Transit” sharing service changes and helping residents and visitors discover the convenience of fare-free transit.
Mountain Transit’s success is more than numbers. It’s a reflection of what happens when leadership, staff, and community partners unite behind a shared mission. The organization has become a model for rural transit innovation, proving that with creativity and collaboration, even long-standing challenges can be transformed into opportunities.
Photo credit to Mike Zap Photography.
