Saturday, March 10, 2001
Initial plans call for a limited transit service that will likely expand to serve other parts of Trumbull County.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Officials in Niles and Warren are working together to make countywide transportation a reality.
Warren city council will vote Wednesday to give up its federal designation to receive mass transportation funds so Niles can use the money to develop and operate a transit system.
Warren and Western Reserve Transit Authority were designated to receive federal transit funding in 1975 to provide service in Youngstown and Warren.
Warren has not applied for or sought funding since then.
Warren council's legislation notes that WRTA currently receives all federal transit money available to this area, but operates only a limited, fixed-route service in Trumbull County.
Warren originally gave up its federal designation to Trumbull County commissioners. However, the designation returned to the city when the commissioners decided last year not to renew a contract with Trumbull Area Coordinated Transportation to provide public transit.
About $2.56 million in federal transit money is available to the Youngstown-Warren area this year.
Praised efforts: Mayor Hank Angelo said he credits Niles Mayor Ralph Infante for working hard to develop plans for a countywide transit service.
Infante declined to comment until plans are solidified.
If funding plans are approved, Niles would operate a limited transit service in Niles and Warren, Angelo said, adding that Girard Mayor James Melfi has also expressed interest in the project.
Warren Councilman Alford Novak, D-2nd, said the service will likely expand to serve other Trumbull County communities.
The nonrenewal of TACT's contract has left many people in the area without rides to work and other places, Novak added.
Niles also intends to negotiate with WRTA or apply directly to the Federal Transit Administration to receive mass transit money designated for this area, legislation says.
Plans call for a transit system to serve the general public, physically challenged and elderly, Angelo said.
"We're working now with a consultant to identify what we can and can't do," as far as transportation regulations go, Angelo said. "We can't be worse off than we are now because we have no transportation."