Ellettsville town council OKs 3 months of transit funding, future uncertain after that
Rural Transit riders who use the transportation service to make on-demand trips inside Monroe County’s urban area will continue to be able to do that—at least through the end of March 2024.
But after March, it’s not clear who will pay the bill for Ellettsville-based trips.
Ellettsville’s town council voted on Monday to pay monthly invoices from Rural Transit based on actual rides given, starting in February, for rides taken the previous month.
But the vote reflects a commitment just for three months. After that, the council will reassess the town’s financial situation. Based on the town council’s deliberations on the topic, which lasted around 50 minutes, it’s not clear from which fund the money for the trips will be drawn.
But Ellettsville clerk treasurer Sandra Hash will take the steps to give public notice of the additional appropriation.
Based on historical data, Ellettsville’s cost for the whole year would work out to $132,000.
Rural Transit has for several years offered urban-to-urban service in Monroe County—as long as the origin and destination are not both inside the city of Bloomington.
What’s new is the request that the town of Ellettsville help pay for the trips, due to a change in federal funding rules. The $3 passenger fare does not cover the roughly $30 cost per trip.
Rural Transit is operated by Area 10 Agency on Aging. Executive director of Area 10, Chris Myers, responded to a B Square question about the transit agency’s plans for service in 2024, in light of the town council’s Monday action.
Myers wrote in an email that Rural Transit will offer urban-to-urban trips in Monroe County after the end of this year at least through March 2024. But she added, “If funding is not secured with Ellettsville after that, we’ll stop those trips that have one leg in Ellettsville.”
That means Rural Transit would continue to offer urban-to-urban service after March, but not for Ellettsville-based trips.
The urban area of a county is defined by the US Census Bureau, and can include more territory than just incorporated cities and towns, like Bloomington and Ellettsville.
One example of an urban-to-urban trip would be from Ellettsville to Walmart on Bloomington’s west side. Another such trip is from Ellettsville to anywhere inside the city limits—like the former location of the IU Health hospital at 2nd and Rogers streets. Trips starting and ending inside Ellettsville are also examples.
Many of Rural Transit’s riders are elderly or have disabilities.
The funding crunch arose when INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) announced that it would start strictly enforcing a condition on Section 5311 funds, which the FTA (Federal Transit Administration) awards to rural transit agencies. That condition says that Section 5311 funds can’t be used to pay for trips with both origin and destination inside a county’s urban area.
Part of Rural Transit’s solution to replacing Section 5311 funds is to ask Ellettsville and Monroe County government to chip in to cover the cost.
In late November, the Monroe County board of commissioners and the county council approved the county government’s end of the deal, which includes $88,000 of county ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money.
The $220,000 total cost reflects a price of $27.41 per trip for about 8,000 trips. The 60:40 split for Ellettsville and Monroe County government is based on an analysis of historical trip origins and destinations.
The $220,000 total price tag was cheaper than the amount that Bloomington Transit (BT) had proposed for the same number of trips, which was $312,000. BT’s proposal included same-day service, in contrast to Rural Transit’s requirement to book a trip in advance.
Deliberations at Monday night’s Ellettsville town council meeting reflected some frustration about the challenge that councilors now face. After their budget was already approved for 2024, they were being asked to find an additional $132,000 to pay for a service that the town had historically never provided.
Town councilor Scott Oldham compared transit service to trash collection, which is not a municipal service offered by Ellettsville. There are municipal services that Ellettsville simply does not offer, based on its tax rate, Oldham said.
About the request to provide support for Rural Transit rides, Oldham said, “We are being asked to fund a transit system, or portions of a transit system, that the rest of the town didn’t say we were going to provide, that we’ve never provided.”
Oldham framed the question in terms of the other commitments the town council has to weigh. He asked: “What are we cutting? Are you going to cut a fireman, a policeman, somebody from streets, somebody from planning? What are you doing?”
Town councilor Dan Swafford reminded his colleagues who the people are who use the service. “These are the elderly, that get to and from grocery stores, to eat to survive. Also doctor’s visits,” Swafford said. He continued, “This isn’t a luxury—we’re taking you to the prom and we’ll pick you up at 10—this is a need for the elderly and the handicapped.”
Town councilor William Ellis indicated that the question of funding transit should be handled in the context of setting the town’s annual budget, and at that point, Ellis said, “We have to figure out whether we’re in this business or not.” Ellis agreed with Oldham, that a choice to pay for transit would mean a choice not to pay for something else.
Even after expressing their concerns, the vote on approving at least three months of funding was unanimous on the five-member town council.
On Tuesday night, during time for reports at the county council’s meeting, councilor Trent Deckard offered some thoughts on the Rural Transit funding situation. Deckard described the kind of trips for which funding is needed—to work, to doctor’s appointments, to vital shopping.
Deckard called funding such urban-to-urban trips “a thing we have to do.” Deckard added, “So I encourage all council members, encourage all the officials, border to border in this county, and make this your priority number one.”
