AUBURN - Thursday marked the opening day of the New York State Fair, and bright and early at locations scattered across the Cayuga County area, people were lining up waiting for the Centro Bus shuttle service to the fairgrounds in Syracuse.

Bill Hutson, manager of Centro's Auburn location, said that Centro has been offering this service at least since he began working for the company in 1982.

“It probably goes back even further than that,” Hutson said. “But I know we've been doing this for at least 26 years now.”

In that time, Hutson said that locations have changed with pickup points at various locations such as the high school parking lot in Auburn, but for the last several years Auburn service has been based out of the Fingerlakes Mall parking lot.

“We have moved around a bit,” Hutson said. “But for the last few years being at the mall things have worked out really well at that location.”

It is a wide variety of reasons that people choose to take the bus as opposed to driving to the fair, but Hutson believes it can be boiled down to a few simple factors that bring people to use the Centro service yearly.

“It is convenient,” Hutson said. “The price is reasonable. I think those are the big things. People like the convenience of being picked up and dropped off right at the main gate and it doesn't really cost that much. People can go the fair and enjoy themselves and not worry about parking and driving.”

Peg Brown, of Skaneateles, was among those waiting in line at the Fingerlakes Mall Thursday morning. Brown said that she will be working at the fair this year, and even with the parking pass she was offered, she prefers to take the bus.

“It is just so much easier,” Brown said. “It makes everything that much simpler. Even with my parking pass you never know where you are going to be parking and I'm going to be on my feet all day. This way I get dropped off right at the gate and picked up and I don't have to walk all over the place. The less I have to be on my feet the better.”

Colleen Nottage, of Auburn, who had her daughter, Deasia, with her, said taking the bus is simply the best way to get to the fair.

“This way you don't have to worry about driving,” Nottage said. “You don't have to worry about parking and walking all that way and then walking back to your car after walking around all day. It just makes things a lot easier.”

Hutson said that last year the Centro shuttle service from Auburn, with locations also in Elbridge, Weedsport and Port Byron, took more than 33,000 people to the fair.

And with the price of gas being what it is these days, he is anticipating an equally, if not busier year this summer.

“This year we are definitely expecting more people,” Hutson said. “It all really depends on the weather. If we get out of this rainy period we've been in and the weather stays good, I think we will be really busy again this year.”

Doreena Exdis, of Cato, was awaiting the bus in Elbridge and said that the price of gas and the hassle of driving on the already busy 690, which only gets more congested with fair traffic, made the bus a sensible option.

“Gas is definitely part of it,” Exdis said. “And it was the last year and the year before. This way there is no hassle, you don't have to deal with traffic, just sit back and there. And you don't have to worry about parking or your car getting broken into. Here there are people watching your car all day. You just don't have to worry about all of that this way.”