SCRANTON — After seeing people waiting in all kinds of weather for a bus on her street corner across from Geisinger Community Medical Center in the Hill Section, Doris Koloski advocated to get a bus stop shelter put there.
Recognizing that the bus riders mostly were patients of the hospital, the 80-year-old resident of Colfax Avenue figured they could benefit from a bus shelter with a bench.
“Everyone that takes the bus at that corner is coming or going to the hospital,” Koloski said, noting some bus passengers also are hospital employees. “Being that I live right there, when I would come out to go someplace and it’s raining or snowing or just hot, people would be standing out there waiting for the bus. They would be leaning against the mailbox, leaning against the telephone pole. There was nowhere (for them) to sit” while they waited.
One man used to bring a folding lawn chair for a seat. She often offered others a seat on her front porch.
“People were out there with crutches and bandages up their legs, bandages on their arms,” Koloski said. “It was really heartbreaking to see, because the people that are riding the bus come up to the hospital to get treatments and go back from the hospital after treatments.”
One day in frigid weather, a man in a wheelchair waited for the bus. She gave him $10 to instead call a cab and noticed he had a blanket over a prosthetic leg.
“I said, ‘That’s it. I’ve got to do something about it,’” Koloski recalled.
Raising the issue on social media a few years ago eventually resulted in a suggestion from Bob Gattens, the chairman of the Scranton Municipal Recreation Authority and a member of the Scranton Zoning Board, telling her to contact the County of Lackawanna Transit System that operates the buses.
Koloski went to a COLTS meeting Dec. 20, 2023, and said that while she does not ride one of the buses, she feels sorry for those who must wait on the corner without anywhere to sit or cover from the elements. She thought it was important for the bus passengers to have a bench or a shelter while they wait, according to minutes from that meeting.
COLTS agreed.
“She brought it to our attention,” said attorney Keri Savage, the director of business communications and development for COLTS. “She raised some concerns and basically proposed that we look into placing a bus shelter there by the hospital. I think the main intention was to serve passengers frequenting the hospital, whether patients or workers.”
The property at 401 Colfax Ave. is owned by Geisinger, which agreed to allow a bus shelter to get installed on a patch of the front lawn abutting the sidewalk at the corner of Mulberry Street, according to Koloski and Savage and confirmed by GCMC spokesman Matt Mattei.
COLTS’ regulatory requirements and processes regarding undertaking the bus shelter project took some time to complete. Koloski kept tabs on the project during COLTS’ meetings in August and October of 2024. The rectangular shelter, which has transparent walls, a curved roof, a bench inside and a solar panel to power a ceiling light, was installed about six months ago.
A newer County of Lackawanna Transit System bus-stop shelter at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Mulberry Street in the Hill Section of Scranton, across from Geisinger Community Medical Center, on Dec. 11, 2024. Colfax Avenue resident Doris Koloski, 80, advocated to have COLTS install the shelter, so GCMC patients would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A newer County of Lackawanna Transit System bus-stop shelter at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Mulberry Street in the Hill Section of Scranton, across from Geisinger Community Medical Center, on Friday, May 30, 2025. Colfax Avenue resident Doris Koloski, 80, advocated to have COLTS install the shelter, so GCMC patients would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A newer County of Lackawanna Transit System bus-stop shelter at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Mulberry Street in the Hill Section of Scranton, across from Geisinger Community Medical Center, on Friday, May 30, 2025. Colfax Avenue resident Doris Koloski, 80, advocated to have COLTS install the shelter, so GCMC patients would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
“It’s up and running over there and it’s beautiful,” Savage said.
In pursuing her goal, Koloski followed the example of one of her friends, city resident Norma Jeffries. At a Scranton City Council meeting in 2017, Jeffries raised the issue of the Hill Section neighborhood missing many street signs or having old and faded ones of varying colors, styles and materials. The city has since had a marked improvement in installing new street signs throughout the city and continues to do so.
“I always think, ‘If you see something, do something (about it),’” Jeffries said. “It’s easy to complain, but when you take that first step, which is always the hardest, to try to do something and to change things, it may take years like it did with her (and the bus shelter) and me with these streets signs. They’re still not 100% up, but they’re making progress.”
Jeffries continued, “I’m so glad that Doris hung in there. She stuck with it and it was so good to see that shelter start to go up for the patients coming out of Geisinger.”
Koloski said, “When I go out the door and I see someone sitting in it (the bus shelter), it makes my day.”
Doris Koloski of Scranton walks her dog, Max, past a newer bus-stop shelter at 401 Colfax Ave. and Mulberry Street on Friday, May 30, 2025. Koloski, 80, who lives on Colfax Avenue, advocated to have the County of Lackawanna Transit System install the shelter, so patients of the nearby Geisinger Community Medical Center would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Doris Koloski poses for a photograph at a bus stop on the corner of Colfax Ave. and Mulberry St. in Scranton Monday, June 2, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Doris Koloski poses for a photograph at a bus stop on the corner of Colfax Ave. and Mulberry St. in Scranton Monday, June 2, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Doris Koloski of Scranton walks her dog, Max, past a newer bus-stop shelter at 401 Colfax Ave. and Mulberry Street on Friday, May 30, 2025. Koloski, 80, who lives on Colfax Avenue, advocated to have the County of Lackawanna Transit System install the shelter, so patients of the nearby Geisinger Community Medical Center would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A newer County of Lackawanna Transit System bus-stop shelter at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Mulberry Street in the Hill Section of Scranton, across from Geisinger Community Medical Center, on Friday, May 30, 2025. Colfax Avenue resident Doris Koloski, 80, advocated to have COLTS install the shelter, so GCMC patients would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A newer County of Lackawanna Transit System bus-stop shelter at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Mulberry Street in the Hill Section of Scranton, across from Geisinger Community Medical Center, on Friday, May 30, 2025. Colfax Avenue resident Doris Koloski, 80, advocated to have COLTS install the shelter, so GCMC patients would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A newer County of Lackawanna Transit System bus-stop shelter at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Mulberry Street in the Hill Section of Scranton, across from Geisinger Community Medical Center, on Friday, May 30, 2025. Colfax Avenue resident Doris Koloski, 80, advocated to have COLTS install the shelter, so GCMC patients would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A newer County of Lackawanna Transit System bus-stop shelter at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Mulberry Street in the Hill Section of Scranton, across from Geisinger Community Medical Center, on Dec. 11, 2024. Colfax Avenue resident Doris Koloski, 80, advocated to have COLTS install the shelter, so GCMC patients would have a place to wait for COLTS buses. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)