September 14, 2011. Evansville Courier & Press.
EVANSVILLE — Starting next month, Vanderburgh County will fund a three-month trial bus route along U.S. 41, which supporters hope will open more employment opportunity for city residents who don’t have regular access to reliable transportation.
The new route is the culmination of two years of pushing for the route by members of Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment, a coalition of about 20 local religious organizations. Elliott Kavanaugh, who serves as the co-chair of the coalition’s transportation committee, thanked the Vanderburgh County Commissioners, who unanimously approved the proposal at their meeting Tuesday night.
“We think it is very important to this community for everyone to have access to transportation, and I believe this provides that transportation for the thousands of people who work along that corridor and for the people that are looking for jobs along that corridor.”
Though the county will fund the three-month trial at a cost of about $46,660, it will be operated by Metropolitan Evansville Transit System. Revenue generated by fares will be given back to county. The route will go from the Downtown METS’ terminal to Volkman Road, which is just south of Interstate 64 and will be run on weekdays from 5:45 to 9:45 a.m., and from 1:45 to 5:45 p.m. for a total of eight daily round trips. The service starts Oct. 3 and is scheduled to last until the end of the year. The $1 fare each way is the same as all other METS’ routes. Currently, METS service extends as far north on U.S. 41 as Lynch Road, though there is a route that goes to the Vanderburgh County Jail.
Kavanaugh previously estimated there are about 7,000 city residents who don’t have access to personal transportation, but that the goal is to get others to use the route as well. METS will distribute brochures for the route to Anchor Industries and AmeriQual along the corridor to give to their workers, and Kavanaugh told the commissioners Tuesday that WorkOne will promote the service. The route includes stops at Anchor and AmeriQual.
Commissioner Marsha Abell, who worked closely with CAJE representatives to get a deal done, said the funding will come from money in the commissioner’s budget reserved to promote economic development. Though the success of the route will be evaluated at the end of the trial period, Abell said she can already envision the route becoming vital, especially because it could provide access to the new North High School on Baseline Road, in the future.
“We are also considering it as an economic development tool for future development on Highway 41 to indicate to industry that there will be a way for people to get to their place of business without their own personal transportation,” she said.
Because the agreement uses METS, which is a service operated by the city of Evansville, the plan also needs approval from the Board of Public Works, which meets today.
