Calhoun Comission increases transit budget

Faced with an increase in ridership in the area’s urban transit system, the Calhoun County Commission voted Thursday to increase funding to the area’s urban transit program by 6 percent from last year.  Commissioners approved a one-year contract with the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission for $53,567 toward the flexible-route public transportation system. The program uses wheelchair-equipped vans to pick up disabled or elderly residents as an on-call service. Shane Christian, the program’s administrator, said the increase in operating costs arises from fuel and maintenance costs, but was mostly related to an increase in people using the program in recent years.  Christian said ridership has grown not only for the pickup service, but also for the county’s fixed-route system, which operates four bus routes daily.