The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) helped initiate the second phase of a comprehensive transit system plan that would provide public transportation through the rural or non-urban areas of the coastal region.
With $75,000 in grants provided by federal organizations, the Georgia DOT issued a contract with the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center to start working on phase II of the regional plan for rural and coordinated public transportation, CGRDC manager Barbara Foster said.
“During phase I, we had to demonstrate a need for a rural transit system, and we did that,” she said. “For phase II, we have to crunch the numbers and figure out how much the plan costs as it would potentially cover the 10 counties and 35 cities of the coastal region.”
According to a CGRDC press release, this system would provide advance reservation, and demand response transportation to anyone, for any purpose and to any destination within the coastal region.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), who helped with the funding, is principally interested though in creating a seamless, comprehensive and accessible system to persons with disabilities, lower income individuals and older adults.
To significantly slash start-up costs, the CGRDC proposes to mold the 10 counties into one regional system to reduce the overall administrative spending by spreading the cost over the newly created transit region.
"The cost of creating this system could be cut by hundreds of thousands or even over a $1,000,000," Foster said. "This price drop though would be contingent upon all counties participating in the plan and the cost would differ from one county to the next depending on non-urban populations."
Moreover, the CGRDC would assume the capital costs (the purchasing of the vehicles) for the cities and counties who participate in the program.
There are also development features in phase II that include: development of transportation routes, the design of a regional dispatching system and setting up a coordinated system with other transportation services to increase accessibility, Foster said.
If anyone with a prior knowledge of transportation systems or if anyone simply has an interest in seeing this regional transportation system put into place, contact Barbara Foster at bfoster@coastalgeorgiardc.org
With $75,000 in grants provided by federal organizations, the Georgia DOT issued a contract with the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center to start working on phase II of the regional plan for rural and coordinated public transportation, CGRDC manager Barbara Foster said.
“During phase I, we had to demonstrate a need for a rural transit system, and we did that,” she said. “For phase II, we have to crunch the numbers and figure out how much the plan costs as it would potentially cover the 10 counties and 35 cities of the coastal region.”
According to a CGRDC press release, this system would provide advance reservation, and demand response transportation to anyone, for any purpose and to any destination within the coastal region.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), who helped with the funding, is principally interested though in creating a seamless, comprehensive and accessible system to persons with disabilities, lower income individuals and older adults.
To significantly slash start-up costs, the CGRDC proposes to mold the 10 counties into one regional system to reduce the overall administrative spending by spreading the cost over the newly created transit region.
"The cost of creating this system could be cut by hundreds of thousands or even over a $1,000,000," Foster said. "This price drop though would be contingent upon all counties participating in the plan and the cost would differ from one county to the next depending on non-urban populations."
Moreover, the CGRDC would assume the capital costs (the purchasing of the vehicles) for the cities and counties who participate in the program.
There are also development features in phase II that include: development of transportation routes, the design of a regional dispatching system and setting up a coordinated system with other transportation services to increase accessibility, Foster said.
If anyone with a prior knowledge of transportation systems or if anyone simply has an interest in seeing this regional transportation system put into place, contact Barbara Foster at bfoster@coastalgeorgiardc.org