The St. Joseph Township Board of Trustees has approved a resolution of support for the creation of a new regional transit authority that could eventually replace the Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority and Berrien Bus.
The St. Joseph Township Board of Trustees has approved a resolution of support for the creation of a new regional transit authority that could eventually replace the Twin Cities Area Transportation Authority and Berrien Bus.
Trustees on Monday heard from Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette about the ongoing effort to launch a transit authority as the state threatens to pull funding from TCATA and Benton Harbor’s Dial A ride service. He said what’s planned is a service offering rides throughout the county and using assets of TCATA and Berrien Bus, at least to start.
Fette said the authority would be governed by a board of nine to eleven members.
“Two members would be appointed to represent the Berrien Bus system, two members would be appointed to represent the existing TCATA system, and two members would be appointed to represent Niles, and the reason for that is those are the three systems that own all the assets, all the buses, the dispatching software, the bus garages, and they employ the drivers,” Fette said.
The remaining three or five seats could be filled according to geographic location or by individuals representing impacted community services, like education, healthcare, or social services.
For the time being, Fette said the third transit service currently operating in Berrien County, Niles Dial A Ride, might be viewed as a potential component of this new regional service, but the immediate plan isn’t necessarily to absorb it.
“Ultimately, ideally, Niles Dial A Ride becomes part of this as well. But Niles Dial A Ride is actually functioning at a pretty high level. They’re operating within their budget. They’re providing the services relatively well. They’re not the critical issue right now.”
For now, Fette said the county is only asking Niles Dial A Ride not to opt out of the concept before it even gets off the ground.
Fette was there to ask St. Joseph Township Trustees for a signal of support so the regional transit idea can continue to move forward. They did so, voting to approve a resolution of support later Monday evening.
Fette will now continue his tour of local government meetings throughout the county seeking additional votes of support.
