Transit chief justifies need for use of seniors levy money

Special-education students make up one of the largest ridership groups for Niles Trumbull Transit.

By Ed Runyan

WARREN — Mark Hess has been inundated with questions in the past week over whether it’s proper for the Trumbull County commissioners to give Niles Trumbull Transit $580,000 in seniors levy money.

Hess, a Niles employee who runs Niles Trumbull Transit, Trumbull County’s public transportation system, says the simple answer is yes — but this is far from a simple question.

In 2007 and 2008, county commissioners gave NTT $462,000 from the levy that county voters approved in 2005 for senior- citizen services. With that money, NTT was able to provide seniors with $2 one-way rides, just as sponsors of the levy had promised during the 2005 levy campaign.

But in September, the commissioners approved giving NTT $580,000 for 2009 — an $118,000 increase — on the grounds that Niles Trumbull’s senior ride service had grown in popularity since 2007 and needed additional revenue to keep providing increased service.

Hess said in early September that ridership was expected to rise 43 percent in 2009 compared with last year — from 35,000 riders in 2008 to 50,000 this year.

Problem is, the numbers Hess cited were not just the number of senior riders NTT serves. Those numbers reflected total ridership. That started tongues wagging over what appeared to be a misrepresentation of statistics.

Why should the county use $118,000 more in seniors levy money to pay for increases in ridership for the part of the NTT clientele that is not age 60 and older?

The Vindicator met with Hess to look at the numbers.

In 2008, NTT gave 16,764 senior-citizen rides. Hess’ math figures that NTT will give 18,650 rides by the end of 2009, an increase of 11.3 percent.

In 2008, NTT gave 37,275 rides to clients of all ages. Hess expects total ridership to rise to 50,000 by the end of 2009, an increase of about 34 percent.

The $580,000 the commissioners recently approved is an increase of 25.5 percent.

Hess says the only thing anyone really needs to know is that NTT has been asked to provide a service to Trumbull County seniors that costs $2 per one-way ride, and he simply asked the commissioners for enough money to make sure that can continue to happen.

NTT was a much-smaller bus service in 2004, before the seniors levy was approved. It had a budget of $632,475, compared with its 2009 budget of $1,248,537, Hess said.

Because of the $462,000 in levy money that came into NTT in 2007 and the promise of $2 rides, the system grew, Hess said. The city of Warren was added to the system in 2007, and the county’s largest city has since become the biggest user of NTT services, now accounting for 19 percent of all NTT rides. In second place is Niles at 10.8 percent, followed by Howland Township at 4 percent and Liberty Township at 3 percent.

Those numbers are a bit misleading, however. Half of all NTT rides are given to individuals who are accessing the services through a Lifelines agency, such as the counseling agency Community Solutions, or the Trumbull County Educational Service Center, which contracts with NTT to provide about 3,500 rides per month for special-education students in Trumbull County public schools so that they can go from school to a job or work-study site and then back home.

Mike Hanshaw, assistant superintendent with the ESC, said NTT receives grant funds to help reduce the cost of that service.

Commissioner Frank Fuda said it is important that the county commissioners provide the money to keep NTT running efficiently so that it can continue to provide rides to the seniors and others who rely on public transportation to get to the doctor, do their grocery shopping, go to Eastwood Mall or get to work.

“If Niles Trumbull Transit were not there, the county might have to set up its own” bus service, Fuda said.

Commissioner Paul Heltzel said the commissioners rely on Niles officials, especially Hess, whose title is Niles engineering and development coordinator, to provide them with the information they need to make good decisions on funding Niles Trumbull Transit.

“When they tell us that they need additional money, we take them at their word,” Heltzel said.

He pointed out that the type of service NTT provides is expensive — close to $30 per ride — so it’s understandable that NTT needs a subsidy from the county to provide that service for $2.

Several communities are members of NTT, and their residents receive rides for a lower price than communities that are not a member. Member communities are Niles, Hubbard, Howland, Girard, Liberty, McDonald, Cortland and Weathersfield.

The cost of rides for people in member communities is $1.50 per one-way trip for those 60 and older, $1.50 for people with disabilities or youths age 2 to 12; and $4 per trip for everyone else.

Riders from a nonparticipating community pay $2 for a one-way trip for people 60 and older; $4 for a one-way trip for people with disabilities and children age 2 to 12; and $8 for everyone else.

For more information on the service, call (330) 369-2600.

runyan@vindy.com

NILES TRUMBULL TRANSIT

Who uses it

Communities and organizations as a percentage of total ridership:

Cortland: 2 percent

Girard: 2 percent

Howland Township: 3.9 percent

Hubbard City: 1 percent

Liberty Township: 3 percent

McDonald: 0.50 percent

Niles: 10.8 percent

Warren: 19.1 percent

Weathersfield: 0.75 percent

Participating communities total: 43 percent

Nonparticipating communities: 7 percent

Lifelines agencies: 21.4 percent

Trumbull County Educational Service Center: 28.5 percent

Lifelines and ESC combined: 50 percent

Source: Niles Trumbull Transit statistics from January through May 2009