Tuesday, July 18, 2000
Countywide transit may hinge on grants
By Vicki Hunker
Staff Writer
Public transportation might be available in Seneca County beginning next year if the county receives $151,000 in federal and state grants through the Ohio Department of Transportation's Rural Transit Program.
After a public hearing Monday, the county commissioners authorized applying for the grants. The application is due Aug. 15.
Total cost of the project would be $341,000. The remaining money would come from local sources, including almost $58,000 to be divided among the cities of Tiffin and Fostoria and the county commissioners, another $20,000 from United Way, almost $87,000 from fares and the remainder from other sources.
Pat DeMonte, executive director of Seneca County Agency Transportation, said the program would expand the services of SCAT to include anybody who wanted to use them.
"We're limited on who we can take and where we can take them," she said.
Now, she said, the agency only transports senior citizens, people with disabilities and low-income residents through the agencies contracted with SCAT.
The grant money would open up the program to the public.
A proposal created by RLS and Associates, a Dayton transportation and consulting firm hired by ODOT, would divide the county into four sections, intersecting in Tiffin. There would be one vehicle running in each region, plus an extra vehicle for out-of-county runs.
The plan includes the entire city of Fostoria, even though parts of the city are in Hancock and Wood counties.
During the hearing, DeMonte said one goal of the program is to enhance the access of people in rural areas to shopping, health care, employment, public services, education and recreation.
Service would be available 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
SCAT now charges $2.50 per one-way trip within Tiffin city limits, plus 32 cents a mile for trips outside the city limits.
The new plan would charge $1 per one-way trip within Tiffin or Fostoria and $3 per one-way trip trip originating outside the limits of the two cities. Early-morning and late-night service would be at higher rates.
Reservations would be required 24 hours in advance and people could be picked up at their homes or another location and transported anywhere in the county. If the trip involves two regions, they would transfer from one vehicle to another.
An example given in the proposal explains that a person in Bloomville could travel anywhere within Region 3 and within Tiffin. However, to travel to Fostoria, the individual must transfer in Tiffin to a Region 1 or 2 vehicle to complete the trip.
A person residing in Tiffin could travel anywhere with the county or to Fostoria.
DeMonte said the transportation program isn't designed to compete with Tiffin's taxi service. In fact, she said SCAT would contract with the taxi service to provide transportation during hours that the vehicles wouldn't be running.