City set to trot out trolleys

Local News

Discussion

March 31, 2010

Fixed-route bus service is expected to begin late this summer.

By Scott Smith Tribune staff writer The Kokomo Tribune Wed Mar 31, 2010, 10:59 PM EDT

A major shift in the city’s public transportation system is coming, and it will be painted red and green.

Wednesday, the city’s Board of Public Works & Safety approved the purchase of three trolley buses, which by summer’s end will begin carrying passengers along two fixed routes in Kokomo.

The red-and-green buses cost $146,700 apiece, with all but $24,000 coming from federal funds.

Federal funds, primarily stimulus dollars, will also pay for the former Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles building on South Union Street, which will serve as the bus system’s dispatch center and as a transfer station for the north-south and east-west routes.

Wednesday, Howard County Governmental Coordinating Council director Larry Ives was getting ready to close on the building, which will be purchased for $440,000.

Ives said the city, which will run the service, hopes to be able to run two buses, 10 hours per day, five days a week, for about $200,000 a year.

In the first year, stimulus funds will pay most of that cost, and the rest of the funding will come from existing federal transportation funds Ives administers.

Until now, those transportation funds have been going toward running the city’s First City Rider and Senior Bus programs.

Those programs will continue, but city officials have already said they will reevaluate whether money should be diverted from First City Rider to the as-yet-unnamed bus service in the future.

Wednesday, city controller Jim Brannon said the 28-passenger trolleys will be purchased from Specialty Vehicles, Henderson, Nev.

But the transfer/dispatch center won’t be ready until at least August, Ives said.

Each bus will have a wheelchair lift, and will stop about every six blocks. Ives said liability issues will probably make it impossible for passengers to “flag down” passing buses.

Brannon said the city will probably have to add at least two full-time employees to run the new system, and will possibly hire from within the existing pool of part-time Senior Bus drivers.

• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Local News

Entire U.S. 31 corridor now under contract
Every segment of the 13.1-mile, U.S. 31 Kokomo Corridor is now officially under construction.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Northwestern to graduate 130 seniors
Peyton Hite ended her last day in high school by going home and washing sheep.

“It’s part of living on a farm,” she said, with a laugh.

May 25, 2012
Drugs, cash seized, four arrested
Police from four agencies seized heroin, pills, syringes and cash, and arrested four people this week after a raid on a house on East Street, according to police reports.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Lafayette job fair expects Kokomo hopefuls
Organizers of a Lafayette job fair next week are reaching out to Kokomo residents looking for work.

May 25, 2012
Deputy prosecutor facing two charges
A Howard County deputy prosecutor will face two drunken-driving charges in connection with a traffic stop in Cicero.

May 25, 2012
Governor honors student
A Northwestern High School senior achieved a milestone Thursday when he became the first Indiana student ever to win both of the state’s top science awards.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Taylor considering staff reductions
A decline in enrollment has forced Taylor School Corp. to consider staff reductions, but the board won’t vote on the issue until next week, officials said Thursday.

May 25, 2012
Schools among top 20 in Indiana
Three area schools were ranked among the top 20 in Indiana this year by U.S. News and World Report.

Tri-Central Middle/High School, Eastern Junior-Senior High School and Tipton High School all made the list, which was an evaluation of 379 high schools across the state.

May 25, 2012
Library starts iPad rental program
Apple can’t make enough iPads to satisfy demand, but the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library now owns 15 iPad2 units.

Thursday, social media-conscious library patrons scrambled to borrow the tablet computers, on the first official day of the library’s iPad lending program.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Gov. names NW student 'Mr. Science' for 2012
Tyler Barnes becomes first Indiana student to be named Indiana's Top Young Scientist and Mr. Science.

May 24, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

City set to trot out trolleys

Fixed-route bus service is expected to begin late this summer.

Site Map

Contact Us