Lake County on-demand bus systems ending service

BY LU ANN FRANKLIN, Times of Northwest Indiana Correspondent

Friday will mark the end of the Northwest Indiana Community Action Corp.'s on-demand bus service, which transports the disabled, the elderly and kidney dialysis patients to appointments and other destinations.

And within a few months, the Hammond Transit System will end bus service in that city.

The clock is ticking, too, on the Regional Bus Authority, RBA President Dennis Rittenmeyer said at Wednesday's meeting.

"January is over. We (the RBA) have 11 months life expectancy left" if a permanent funding source isn't found, Rittenmeyer said at a meeting of the authority.

Both the Federal Transportation Authority and the recent Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority audit of the RBA indicated the necessity of permanent funding, he told board members. About $2.2 million in federal and state money will dry up for Northwest Indiana if that permanent funding isn't found.

"That money will go elsewhere in the state," he said.

Rittenmeyer said he supports a 1 percent tax on Lake County food and beverage sales to fund transportation in Northwest Indiana. The Lake County Council would have to approve the tax, a proposal that -- as of yet -- has not garnered enough support among council members and county commissioners.

"We have three votes we can count on. We need five," Rittenmeyer said.

In other business, the RBA:

* learned that the NWICA will return 25 buses to the authority when service ends Friday.

* approved a joint statement of goal between the RBA and the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District after 20 minutes of discussion.

* approved a $14,000 contract with Arthur Gaudet & Associates to assist RBA staff and the Gary Public Transportation Corporation to rework bus schedules for regional routes.