The county commissioners are forming a Shared Ride advisory group aimed at bringing concerns of residents to its transportation provider rabbittransit, as well as broader transportation needs in the county, Commissioner Gary Eby said on May 17.
He made the announcement at the commissioners’ meeting on Monday morning and was looking for residents in the county to be part of the advisory board. The goal is to start meeting in June to examine some of the concerns and potential improvements to the county’s transportation services.
“We recognize there has to be more local input,” Eby said in an interview on Friday about the subject.
Until 2016, Perry County operated its own busing and shared-ride transportation. That year, the transportation authority voted to merge with the Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, also known as rabbittransit, based in York.
The former Board of County Commissioners signed off on the deal that year and in 2017 rabbittransit began operating shared ride and other transportation services in Perry County. The transit authority is one of the largest in central Pennsylvania operating regional services in Adams, Columbia, Cumberland, Franklin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union and York counties.
An advisory board from Perry was supposed to be established as part of the transitional period four years ago, but it took a back seat on the priorities, Eby said. The most recent idea to revisit that came about during discussion on May 6 amongst the county commissioners, rabbittransit and PennDOT officials. Soon after, Eby also met with the local transit manager and bus drivers. Everyone seems to be on the same wavelength and feels an advisory board could help improve service, he said.
The advisory board has not been formed yet, but it’s meant to more directly link transportation users and residents with those making decisions to hear concerns, ideas and potential improvements. Eby said that’s important to make transportation more efficient because it’s constantly under scrutiny statewide.
Eby is the former director of the Perry County Transportation Authority. He served in that capacity for more than 16 years.
Jim T. Ryan can be reached via email at jtryan@perrycountytimes.com