Keith Benman, Times of Northwest Indiana
keith.benman@nwi.com
The Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority soon will have a consolidated dispatch center for all dial-a-ride buses in Lake and Porter counties, and it will steer stimulus funds to Gary's financially ailing bus agency.
The RBA board of directors Monday authorized the moving of the dial-a-ride dispatch center to South Lake County Community Services, in Crown Point, a move which will rescue the dispatch center and expand its reach.
The dispatch center has operated under an RBA contract with Northwest Indiana Community Action Inc., but that agency exited the dial-a-ride business earlier this year.
The new agreement approved by the RBA will provide for installation of a Global Positioning System in all on-demand buses in Lake and Porter counties. The RouteMatch system shows drivers the fastest, most efficient routes to customers and destinations.
The RBA held its regular monthly meeting Monday at the Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus in Merrillville.
The new equipment and operating agreement with South Lake County Community Services will be funded by $425,000 in funds secured by the RBA and $200,000 in federal stimulus funds.
The new dispatch center will serve buses operated by South Lake County Community Services, North Township, Porter County Aging and Community Services and Opportunity Enterprises, of Valparaiso.
In other action, the RBA board approved a swapping of funds and projects with Gary Public Transportation Corp. that will provide the region's largest bus provider with $1.5 million in stopgap stimulus funding.
Under the arrangement, GPTC will pay for a $725,000 dispatch and vehicle locator project and the RBA will direct stimulus funds it had planned to use for the project to GPTC. The federal money will tide over Gary's bus agency until tax collections and other revenue arrive.
Under the agreement, GPTC will have to put $145,000 in an escrow account. That money will be the local funding for the dispatch and vehicle locator project and will be used to secure almost $600,000 in federal funds.
In another move, GPTC will use approximately $800,000 in stimulus funds that were to be spent on long-term capital projects for operating expenses.
All the arrangements are made possible by a change in the federal stimulus program enacted in June, which allows transit providers to use stimulus funds for operating expenses.