WILLIAMSTOWN – Berkshire Livery, a new addition to the sparsely populated field of drivers in northern Berkshire, has arrived.

Lisa Donovan, Tanya Cravish and Marlene Champagne have joined forces to create a women-owned chauffeur service based in Williamstown that will take you to your destination provided you have arranged a pick-up time.

“When you call a taxi company, you hear that you have to wait 10 to 15 minutes for a taxi, and then you can wait up to an hour,” Donovan said. “That’s a big part of the dissatisfaction that customers associate with a taxi company. A taxi service is based on timed calls.”

You can still call and ask for a more urgent ride, but no matter what happens, when you call you will be given a specific pick-up time.

The new company aims to provide local transportation for people who need to do things like grocery shopping or doctor’s appointments. It also offers a contracted courier service. According to the company description, it focuses on “airport transfers and taxi services.”

“We are in the process of negotiating some contracts with the hospitals – for confidentiality reasons we cannot disclose the name of the contract,” said Donovan. “We are also hopefully working on contracts with organizations that help women and children.”

Donovan said Berkshire Livery is banking on RJ’s Taxi being the only other comparable service in the area.

“More and more people are buying cars and transportation services are worse than they used to be,” she said.

However, Donovan points out that there are certain populations – particularly seniors – who need help getting around the city.

“Sometimes RJ’s is fully booked for an hour,” she said. “We are here to help our elderly and the local community wherever they need to go.”

The business is already in full swing and is in the middle of hiring. The plan is to hire female drivers in addition to the male drivers already on hand. Donovan has not set a cap on the number of people that can be hired.

“Our biggest concern is that we are women and women-led. We want to provide safe, reliable rides and gain the community’s trust in us,” she said. “Tanya and I really wanted to open our own business at some point, but that takes a lot of money.”

This is where Champagne, the independent owner of Berkshire Livery, came into play.

Donovan and Cravish used to work together at OTT Taxi before it closed a few months ago. Berkshire Livery’s headquarters are at the same Williamstown location where OTT has been based for the past few months. However, Donovan clarified that Berkshire Livery has no affiliation with OTT Taxi and is a separate company.

Former OTT operator John Lord has not responded to several requests for comment on what is happening with his company over the past two months.

Donovan confirmed that there is no limit to how far Berkshire Livery will drive someone to their destination.