Greene CATS Flex Route Forum
Media Room, 571 Ledbetter Road, Xenia
5:30 p.m.
Contact: Bryce Bookmiller (937) 562-6461 or bbookmiller@co.greene.oh.us
XENIA –Greene CATS will host a public forum tonight to discuss possible changes to its flex-service bus routes.
Proposed route changes include bus route expansions, moving from numerical to color-based routes and restructuring of the family fare.
“We’re trying to go by those place people need to go,” said Greene CATS Executive Director Ken Collier. “We can’t stop everywhere, but we’re trying to get near (areas) so everyone has access.”
One of the major proposed changes is the inclusion of the Village of Yellow Springs on the the bus route between Fairborn and Xenia. The bus would be rerouted to areas near the Yellow Springs library, the community center and Antioch College and Antioch University.
“We’re happy that we’re doing that and think it will be a benefit to our citizens and to people in Greene County who want to visit Yellow Springs,” said Laura Curliss the Yellow Springs village manager. “It’s wonderful.”
A grant for more than $693,000 from the Federal Transit Agency would fund the route expansion, according to Collier.
The county transit system also is considering eliminating the $1 family fare in lieu of a discounted rate of 25 cents for children.
The Greene CATS transit system includes four flexible bus routes that use “time points” instead of bus stops to indicate when the bus will be in an area. Riders flag down the bus, which is scheduled to be on a route at a particular time, in the same way a person would hail a taxicab.
“I think they’re going to the right places,” Collier said. “We’re going by places where people live and we’re going by places they need to go.”
Buses travel from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. between Xenia and Fairborn; east and west Xenia; Xenia and Dayton; Beavercreek and Fairborn.
The buses on flex routes cost about $1,263.84 per day, according to Greene CATS data. That cost could increase with the route expansion.
In addition to the route expansion, the county transit system also is looking at consolidating time points and adding signs in Fairborn. Some signs would be used on existing support structures to reduce clutter. In other areas, an independent structure may be required.
“We have yet to determine the impact,” said Keith Brane, the Fairborn city planner. “But it can only be good to provide transportation choices to our citizens.”
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