By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau
---- —
DELHI _ An additional $30,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation for a coordinated public transportation system was approved by the Delaware County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.
The Delaware County Office for the Aging originally received a technical assistance award from the Community Transportation Association of America and funding from the state Department of Transportation to develop the plan, Board Chairman James Eisel said.
The county previously applied for a $50,000 grant to hire a consulting firm, RLS Associates Inc., to develop the system, according to Delaware County NY Connects Coordinator Laura Stewart.
The additional DOT funding will extend the consultant's contract to bring the project to implementation. The county will not be expected to provide an additional match for the grant, according to the resolution.
Eisel said the completed study is expected late this year or early next year.
Office for the Aging Director Tom Briggs said previously that the plan would attempt to use existing county transportation methods to develop a public system.
Eisel said the cost-saving statistics are amazing.
"Eventually we can move county funds and hire a mobility manager," Eisel said. "This is a way to save money."
Transportation expenses countywide total $3 million for about 128,000 trips annually at an average cost of $42 per trip.
Stewart worked with NY Connects member agencies to list every organization that provides transportation in the county.
Briggs said previously the biggest stumbling block in designing a public transportation system is the sparse, spread-out population. There are no concentrations of potential riders and no primary destination points.
Eisel said the possibility of arranging blocks of time for Delaware County residents to visit specific sites or set aside an afternoon when groups of people could visit a specific doctor would save tremendous amounts of money.
"It would be a better way of using our vehicles to move more of our people around," Eisel said.
Hamden Supervisor Wayne Marshfield said, "I am anxious to see how it works out. I think this is a good plan and certainly worth a try. On the surface it looks profitable, more efficient and it may free up transportation for more trips."
Community Transportation of America Assistant Director Charles Rutkowski said the transportation system is being looked at from an economic development perspective.
Rutkowski said Delaware County is one of the few counties statewide that has no public transportation system.
In March, RLS Associates put together a 51-page presentation outlining the transportation systems currently in place, the routes they travel, the destinations they visit and the number of people they serve.
One of the goals of coordinating the various transportation systems is to address service gaps in the system. Transportation services revolve around senior citizens, people with disabilities and low-income residents. The plan is to enable the general public to use the same transportation sources.
Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
