Community forums held last week outlined the need for a county transit system that would give better public transportation options to area residents including routes connecting cities in the county as well as ones taking people to the greater South Bend area.
Berrien County Commissioners endorsed the idea of forming a Berrien County Transit Authority last December and last week’s forums are part of the process leading up to the creation of the authority and a new countywide plan. Forums were held in Niles, Benton Harbor and New Buffalo to give people in all parts of the county the chance to attend.
Southwest Michigan Planning Commission Senior Planner Kim Gallagher reported that more than 100 people attended last week’s public forums to give input into what they’d like to see in the plan. Those coming to the meetings included current transit customers, caregivers, human service agencies, employers and service providers, she said.
Over two dozen people attended the first forum held last Tuesday in Niles. They heard from Greg Strangeways, the private consultant hired to assist the county in developing the plan and create the authority. Strangeways is with the Nelson Nygaard consulting firm.
Strangeways outlined the current situation in terms of both what the needs are and what the four current providers offer. The county is currently served by the Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority in the Twin Cities area, Buchanan Dial-A-Ride, Niles Dial-A-Ride and Berrien Bus.
He told those at the Niles forum that the current systems have a number of problems including the fact they mostly operate weekdays with few routes available on the weekend. Fares are also more expensive than is optimal and parts of the county are not reached at all, he said.
He suggested possible ways to improve public transportation offerings including expanding the number and scope of fixed routes in the county. Among examples he gave were having routes from Stevensville to Benton Harbor, around the Coloma-Watervliet area and routes from Benton Harbor-St. Joseph to Niles and South Bend.
The last suggestion was one attendees liked. They spoke of difficulties in making trips from Niles to South Bend in terms of being able to get to South Bend in time to make transfers to their bus system or being able to come back in time to make the connection back to Niles.
Other areas of need mentioned was having public transportation services available to get to medical appointments and having the right connections available to Cass County residents who use the Niles and Buchanan Dial-A-Rides.
Strangeways concluded his presentation by saying that “doing nothing is not an option.” He noted that Berrien Bus has been drawing down its reserves and won’t have money to operate after 2020. The other three services rely on local millages to support their operations.
He said that a county transit authority could serve several purposes including reducing redundancies and inefficiencies in the current systems by having a central dispatch, administrative and call center. The authority could also help in expanding service areas and hours of operations as well as reducing fares.
Challenges the county faces is the fact that it has a higher percentage of senior citizens than other areas and the county contains a mix of rural and urban areas. Strangeways said his firm will now start developing recommendations for the county to look at.
Gallagher said there will be more opportunities for the public to give input including going to the www.connectberrien.org website where people can leave comments, find background information and take part in online surveys which will be available within the next couple of weeks.
Another set of public forums will be held in the fall to give people the chance to learn more and comment on the specific proposals developed by the planning commission and Nelson
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