If grades were given based on the physical effort involved in getting to class, Ivy Tech Community College student James Foran might be valedictorian.

Every week since June, he’s been walking to the college campus on Morgan Street from his residence downtown.

Tuesday, Foran made the 2.2-mile trek on the City Line bus.

“I’ve been saying for a couple of years Kokomo needed a bus,” Foran said as he clutched his computer bag and a 3-inch-thick computer programming textbook.

Tuesday was also a banner day for Kokomo Common Councilwoman Janie Young, D-3rd, who recalled the awkward, sinking feeling she felt when she proposed starting a bus service during a 2007 political debate.

“I sat down and people were looking at me like, ‘Oh girl,’” Young said.

Three years later, it’s clear Young wasn’t the only local leader backing bus service.

About 20 community leaders, representing Indiana University Kokomo, Ivy Tech, the United Way of Howard County, the Kokomo Rescue Mission, Howard County and Kokomo city government and the Kokomo-Center Schools, all crowded into the City Line’s new transit center at Union and Superior streets.

“Anybody who knows me knows I am passionate about public transportation,” Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight said. “It’s reliable, it’s convenient, it cuts down on traffic and it cuts emissions going into the air.”

“How this is going to work is if we utilize it,” he added. “Please encourage people to use this.”

The sun came up Tuesday on a perfect late summer day, and the first West Line bus made it to the Northwest Plaza and back without picking up any passengers.

By 9 a.m., the South Line and East Line had picked up a handful of passengers each.

East/West driver Jim VanWinkle and supervisor Kim Mooney both said the city’s transportation consultants had warned ridership would increase slowly.

“They said it will take time, and they said you won’t have much in the early morning at first,” VanWinkle said. “I think people are going to have to get used to it.”

Some of the morning’s first riders were women from the city’s Open Arms shelter, who took the West Line from the transit center up North Washington Street.

“I think it was wonderful. It was about time,” Catherine Dillon said. “We come across a lot of ladies that transportation is a major issue.”

Tammy Huizer said she came to Kokomo from Indianapolis, and looked for a bus for most of her first day in town before realizing there wasn’t one.

“I’ve gone out job hunting, and walked and walked, and you get so tired,” she said. “I think the Lord’s going to bless us and let us keep this.”

The bus is free, a fact many residents seem to think too good to be true.

But city officials are hoping even people who own a car would want to take the City Line, which will make up to 108 stops across the city, every hour.

Tammy Corn, director of Kokomo City Line, said she is thrilled to offer the bus service to college students in Howard County.

“In this area we have IU Kokomo, Purdue University College of Technology, and Ivy Tech Community College. We wanted to service the colleges here,” Corn said. “It’s hard when you’re going to college to own a car; the upkeep, the insurance. Now we have a fixed-route bus system. It’s great for our community.”

Indiana University Kokomo Chancellor Michael Harris called the bus a wonderful addition to the community.

“This is just one example of how the city of Kokomo and the campus can help each other,” Harris said in press statement. “I look forward to many more opportunities that will bring the city and the campus together.”

• 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