WRTA, Niles hit snag on aid

Transit agencies must agree or lose $3.4M in U.S. funds

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — If Niles and Western Reserve Transit Authority officials can’t reach agreement on the division of Federal Transit Administration funding, neither entity will get those dollars.

The $3.4 million from FTA must be divided among Niles-Trumbull County Transit, WRTA and Shenango Valley Shuttle Service. It’s up to those entities to work out how much each will receive.

Because of declining populations, the FTA linked Mercer County with the Youngstown-Warren metropolitan area for funding purposes beginning around 2000.

Shenango Valley, which transports riders from downtown Sharon to the Shenango Valley Mall and performs trips to rural areas, is to get $504,000 under what’s being discussed.

Niles wants $533,000 of the funding. WRTA believes Niles’ allotment should be $400,000.

WRTA, the largest transit system of the three, would get the bulk of the federal money.

“They negotiate that every year,” said Mirta Reyes-Chapman, who manages public transit programs for Eastgate Regional Council of Governments. “If one transit agency doesn’t agree, no one gets it.”

But, she said, the entities aren’t facing a deadline to reach agreement.

Mark Hess, Niles’ coordinator of engineering, grants and development, said that city used the previous year’s costs in estimating its costs for the upcoming year.

Last year, Niles portion of FTA funding was $391,000.

James Ferraro, WRTA executive director, said the federal formula uses a different criterion for rural service versus urban service.

Niles says about 99 percent of its service is urban trips. WRTA believes rural trips comprise more of Niles’ service.

Both Hess and Ferraro though say negotiations are ongoing and that they expect to reach an agreement.

“Without an agreement, nobody will be able to file their grant,” Hess said.

Niles-Trumbull County Transit operates a demand-response system, whereby people call to schedule rides.

Besides FTA money, Niles’ system receives funding through a Trumbull County senior levy as well as payment from communities whose residents can use the service at a lower fare.

“More people are using it,” Hess said.

The service completed 50,000 trips in 2008, seeing an increase in the last three months of the year, he said.

WRTA, meanwhile, operates 14 fixed routes within Youngstown, and in some portions of Boardman, Austintown, Liberty, and Girard, its web site says. The bus system serves all Youngstown City high schools, Youngstown State University, all the hospitals and major shopping and employment centers. WRTA serves more than 1.3 million riders per year covering nearly 149 square miles.

WRTA plans to begin offering a Dial-A-Ride program in which Mahoning County residents call to schedule rides in September.

denise_dick@vindy.com