Evolving transportation reflects community changes

By Matt Weafer
Messenger-Inquirer Special Publications
Greater Owensboro Business Magazine

The Owensboro Transit System is a service to the public and an amenity for the city. Public transportation is a keystone for developed societies. And OTS offers the service that many citizens depend on as their sole source of transportation.

Receiving 50 percent of its funding from federal taxes and the other 50 percent from the Federal Transit Association, OTS offers inexpensive transportation throughout the city. For only $1 individuals can ride the bus. People more than 60 years old, students or people with disabilities ride for only 50 cents.

Owensboro’s economy has changed rapidly over the past several years, expanding into a commercial metropolis. With those changes, OTS has increased its service area and intends to increase its number of buses and further develop routes to accommodate major changes in the city’s infrastructure — primarily the relocation of many businesses and organizations from the center of town to the outskirts, such as the new hospital off Pleasant Valley Rd.

When the Social Security office moved to Lucky Strike Loop near J.R. Miller Boulevard and Salem Dr., the transit system readjusted its routes to accommodate the change. In 2007, OTS redesigned routes to better serve students traveling to Owensboro Community and Technical College. To further ease student passage, OTS will be installing a shelter to protect them from the elements outside OCTC’s Frederica St. campus, along with other new shelters to be installed outside the Health Department and the Daniel Pitino Shelter.

Recently OTS added a route to travel to the detention center on Kentucky 60.

"Everything is moving out," Louis Lindsay, OTS manager, said.

Soon Lindsay expects to change more routes to better serve individuals located and traveling to the south side of Carter Rd., including the MidAmerica Airpark, Daymar College and Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club, Lindsay said.

A major change Lindsay is keeping in the back of his mind is the new hospital scheduled to open in November 2011. Currently slated for construction on Daniels Lane off of Pleasant Valley Road, OTS would have to expand its coverage much further than before. And Lindsay expects that expansion to include more buses and at least two additional routes within the next four or five years.

By 2009, OTS will receive new vehicles to replace its aging fleet. The oldest bus in operation was built in 1999. The heavy duty buses OTS uses are designed to last up to 10 years. For the new buses, 80 percent of the funds come from the federal government and the remainder from FTA.

The new buses will not only be more fuel-efficient with lower emissions but will be larger, seating at least four more people. Currently, OTS uses 26-foot buses with a 24-person capacity. The new 30-foot buses will be wheelchair accessible and ride on an adjustable chassis that can be lowered to level with the sidewalk for easier entrances and exits.

Expanding coverage area and adding more shelters at bus stops, OTS hopes to not only increase its service for riders that depend on public transportation but to also increase the number of choice riders — riders that have other transportation options. Almost all of the 1,000 passengers OTS conveys daily are commuters that have no other transit options.

"We really don’t have a large percentage of choice riders," Lindsay said. "We’re definitely interested in increasing choice riders, but our first focus is to take care of people that need transportation."

Reprinted with permission, Messenger-Inquirer