Jun 2, 2011 By Amy Revak 4 min read

?Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation officials Wednesday outlined some changes, including halting some later evening service, that will be happening with fixed-route service starting on July 1.

The alterations were announced during FACT’s annual public hearing on funding, projects and changes. The hearing was held at the transit center at the Joseph A. Hardy/Connellsville Airport. There will be no construction projects this year, but FACT will continue to offer daily trips around the county and to Pittsburgh. The base rate for public transit will remain at $1.40, where it has been since 2008. Other rates will remain the same as well.

Lori Groover-Smith, FACT executive director, said some changes were made, such as cutting back some evening hours on fixed routes, because ridership was low. Other changes, such as eliminating stops to places after they were closed, are being done to make the transit provider more efficient, she said. The changes will coincide with the beginning of the 2011-2012 fiscal year on July 1.

Among the changes is the elimination of one daily trip to Pittsburgh. Instead of offering service at 2?p.m. and 3?p.m. into the city, FACT will only offer a 2:30?p.m. route.

Kim Renze, FACT operations manager, outlined the changes to the eight fixed routes in detail.

Renze said Saturday that the Masontown/Fairchance/Smithfield route is being eliminated, but the shuttle service at the transfer center to shopping areas throughout South Union Township is adding four round trips. The added trips will start every half hour.

Evening stops at various sites such as Private Industry Council and the Uniontown Senior Center are being eliminated from the Uniontown A bus, as are five daily stops at Target, Renze said. However, he added that in addition to the three remaining stops at Target, the shuttle will provide stops every half hour.

For the Saturday Connellsville route, the last trip is being eliminated and the route will end at 6:20?p.m. due to poor ridership, Renze said.

Some evening runs are also being eliminated for the Brownsville/Republic routes also, Renze said. He said the last run on the Monday-through-Friday route is being stopped and the Saturday run will end at 6?p.m. instead of 9:19?p.m.

Also, the Uniontown B and Hopwood/Chalk Hill/Farmington (Nemacolin Woodlands Resort) buses are being combined, Renze said. The change will drop the number of daily trips to the mountain area and to the resort from nine to six.

Groover-Smith said the goal of FACT remains to provide high-quality cost-effective transportation for everyone. She said FACT will respond within 48 hours to all complaints. She said all drivers undergo drug and alcohol tests and must obtain all clearances for employment.

She said drivers strive to be on time, which is within six minutes of the scheduled stop.

FACT also provides para-transit transportation services, which include medical assistance, shared-ride and welfare-to-work subsidized programs. Groover-Smith said cancellations to those programs must be made two hours before the trip start time or it will be listed as a no-show.

Groover-Smith said for the 2011-12 fiscal year, FACT will receive $1,598,800 in operating assistance, including $608,931 in federal funding, $546,453 in state funding and $371,416 in local funding. That money will be used to operate the eight fixed routes that FACT provides.

FACT will receive nearly $300,000 in capital assistance money, including $239,959 in federal funding, $49,970 in state funding and $10,020 in local funding. Groover-Smith said the capital assistance money will be used to purchase equipment to maintain FACT’s facilities, which include the transit center and the transfer center at the Fayette County Business Park.

Groover-Smith said there also are plans to purchase three new shared-ride vehicles to replace vehicles that have outlived their usefulness. An allocation of $225,000 has been secured in state funding for that purchase.

For more information about FACT’s rates and service options, visit online at www.factbus.com.