About
Since 1982, COAST has connected people across the Greater Seacoast to the places and opportunities that matter most. As a nonprofit public transportation provider, we’re committed to making our region more accessible, connected, and vibrant through reliable transportation services for everyone. Learn more about our mission, our people, our history, and the values that guide our work every day.
Our Mission, Vision, and Values
Mission
COAST champions and provides customer-focused public transportation with a commitment to excellence in safety and service.
Vision
COAST is an innovative leader in providing a broad range of public transportation services, connecting and coordinating a robust network of transportation options for everyone.
Values
- We treat everyone with respect, kindness, and compassion, and as we would like to be treated.
- We conduct ourselves professionally and with integrity.
- We are responsible for our actions and accountable to each other.
- We are good stewards of the public’s trust.
- We welcome and encourage respectful, honest, constructive communication in the organization.
- Our open door policy encourages all staff to express concerns, share ideas and information, and provide feedback.
- We actively communicate our decisions.
- We follow through on our plans and intentions.
- We regularly question “the way we have always done things” and encourage creativity and innovation.
- We do not accept today’s best as tomorrow’s limitations.
- We celebrate our individual and organizational successes.
Meet COAST’s Leadership Team
Rad Nichols
Executive Director
Michael Williams
Director of Operations
Joanne Muckenhoupt
Director of Development
Heather Hesse-Stromberg
Director of HR & Compliance
Margot Doering
Director of Finance
Vanessa Polychronis
Manager of HR and Community Engagement
Phil Smith
Manager of Fleet & Facility Maintenance
Jeff Donald
Manager of Regional Mobility
Damian Santana
Transit Accessibility Specialist
Meet COAST’s Board of Directors
COAST is governed by a Board of Directors representing the communities we serve, along with partner organizations and at-large members. The Board provides oversight and strategic direction, establishes organizational policy, approves the annual budget, amends bylaws, and guides long-term planning. Use the calendar below for upcoming meeting information.
View our calendarOfficers and Executive Committee Members
Dennis Shanahan
Chair, City of Dover
Sean Clancy
Vice Chair, City of Portsmouth
Scott Bogle
Treasurer, Rockingham Planning Commission
Margaret Joyce
Secretary, Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce
Board Members
Fred Butler, NH Department of Transportation
Arthur Capello, Town of Berwick
Sönke Dornblut, Town of Newmarket
Jessica Garlough, Greater Seacoast Community Health
Jason Garnham, Town of Kittery
Denis Hebert, Town of Newington
Colin Lentz, Strafford Regional Planning Commission
Michael Mates, Pease Development Authority
Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro, City of Somersworth
David Tovey, Town of Exeter
Kiersten Wright, City of Rochester
Alternate Board Members
Donna Benton, City of Dover
Jen Czysz, Strafford Regional Planning Commission
Carol Gulla, Member At-Large
Jillian Harris, City of Portsmouth
Michelle Winters, NH Department of Transportation
Board Member Openings
- Town of Farmington
- An appointed representative from a major private sector employer in COAST’s service area
- An appointed representative from the housing sector in COAST’s service area
COAST History
For more than 40 years, COAST has connected people, communities and opportunities across the Greater Seacoast. What began in 1981 as a community effort to coordinate a fragmented transportation system has grown into a regional public transit organization serving thousands of people every year.
1890s–1970s: Before COAST, the Seacoast Was Already Moving
Public transportation has deep roots on the Seacoast. Electric streetcars operated throughout the region beginning in the late 19th century before many systems transitioned to buses in the 1920s. By the late 1970s, however, transportation had become fragmented among several private operators, with routes and schedules that weren’t coordinated.
1981: COAST Is Born
Community leaders, planners, government officials and business owners came together in 1981 to find a better way to provide public transportation across southeastern New Hampshire. On March 12, they settled on the name Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation, or “COAST.” The nonprofit was officially incorporated on April 1, 1981.
1982: The First COAST Routes Hit the Road
COAST’s first publicly accessible system launched in 1982, incorporating UNH’s Kari-Van system and connecting communities including Dover, Exeter, Newmarket and Portsmouth. The early system also included service to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
1984–1987: A Regional Network Takes Shape
In just a few years, COAST expanded its network with numbered routes connecting Rochester, Milton, Farmington, Dover, Durham, Newmarket, Exeter, Portsmouth and communities throughout the region. By 1987, COAST had added service connecting Portsmouth with Eliot and Kittery and expanded Route 7 into downtown Dover.
Mid-1990s: COAST Expands Access for People with Disabilities
During the mid-1990s, COAST reestablished important regional connections and began operating complementary ADA paratransit service, expanding public transportation access to people with disabilities.
1998–2001: COAST Becomes Its Own Organization
COAST’s relationship with UNH changed significantly in 1998 as the missions of the two organizations diverged. After several years of contracted operations, COAST took another major step toward independence on December 10, 2001, when it became primarily self-operated and assumed direct management of its bus and ADA services.
2000: COAST Gets Its First Permanent Home
In 2000, COAST purchased the former C&J Trailways facility at 42 Sumner Drive in Dover, creating its first permanent home for staff, buses and operations.
2000–2009: A Decade of Growth
In 2001, COAST introduced year-round trolley service connecting Portsmouth and Pease International Tradeport, creating a service that would evolve into today’s Pease/Lafayette trolley routes.
COAST celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007. The following year, the organization carried its 10 millionth passenger, and in 2008–2009 COAST partnered with the City of Dover on the FastTrans project, dramatically expanding transit service in the city.
2010–2012: COAST Reaches a New Scale
COAST crossed 50 employees and expanded service to communities north of Rochester. In 2012, annual ridership reached a then-record 506,514 passenger trips (a 138% increase from a decade earlier). COAST also launched Clipper Connection service to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
2014: COAST Expands Its Mission Beyond the Bus
COAST launched CommuteSMART Seacoast to encourage alternatives to driving alone, while the regional transportation call center began connecting people with transportation options through ACT.
2017–2019: 35 Years, 100,000 ADA Trips & 15 Million Riders
COAST celebrated 35 years of service in 2017 and reached its 100,000th ADA passenger trip. After undertaking strategic planning and a comprehensive look at its bus network, COAST celebrated its 15 millionth passenger trip in 2019.
2020: COAST Keeps Moving During a Pandemic
COVID-19 brought public transportation to an unprecedented halt. COAST suspended fixed-route service for nearly six weeks in spring 2020 (the first extended shutdown in its history) while continuing ADA paratransit service because of its essential role. Service returned with enhanced cleaning, protective barriers and air-treatment systems.
2021: Planning for COAST’s Next 40 Years
As COAST began rebuilding ridership after the pandemic, the organization also looked toward the future. In 2021, after extensive assessment and analysis, COAST developed an initial conceptual plan for a new facility to replace its aging and undersized home.
Today: Building the Next 40 Years
After more than four decades of growth, COAST is planning for its next chapter with a new facility designed to support current operations, accommodate future demand and reduce environmental impact. The project represents an investment in the future of public transportation and the Greater Seacoast.
Learn more about COAST’s vision for the future and our Connected by COAST project.