Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Pike County Judge Executive Heading Initiative To Bringing Commercial Bus Service To Pike County
Pikeville, Ky.—Pike County Judge/Executive Wayne T. Rutherford is heading an initiative to bring a commercial bus service to Pike County and other parts of Eastern Kentucky.
“In most areas of the country, people take public transportation services for granted, but Pike County and other parts of Eastern Kentucky have long remained isolated from the rest of the state and the nation. No commercial transit service exists in our part of Kentucky—not a commercial airline, not a passenger rail service, not even a commercial bus service,” said Judge Rutherford.
Recently, Judge Rutherford met with John Owen, a community intercity operations director for Kentucky-based Miller Transportation, Inc., which operates the Miller Trailways bus service. The two men discussed the need to bring commercial buses back into rural areas such as Pike County, and also the possibility of Miller Transportation creating a Trailways bus line to take Pike Countians to and from Lexington.
In the past, Pike County was serviced by Greyhound buses, but the company discontinued the line several years ago, opting to limit services to urban areas only. Now, through federal subsidies being offered by the Federal Transit Administration, Owen said Trailways is looking to bring bus services back to rural areas such Eastern Kentucky.
“If Trailways commences services in Pike County, they will be filling a large gap in the lack of public transportation presently offered in this area. Several different areas of our population would benefit from the services, including college students, the elderly, and low-income residents. Many Pike Countians need to travel to Lexington for various reasons, one of the most important reasons being medical care, but they cannot do so because they either do not own their own transportation, do not own transportation reliable enough to travel the more than 300 miles round trip, or cannot afford to pay the cost of gas,” Judge Rutherford said.
Judge Rutherford has formed a local committee to encourage the initiative, and the committee is scheduled to meet with Miller Transportation President John Miller next Wednesday in Pikeville, to discuss the endeavor. Judge Rutherford has also written a letter to Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Joe Prather in support of a Pike County/Lexington transit line.
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“In most areas of the country, people take public transportation services for granted, but Pike County and other parts of Eastern Kentucky have long remained isolated from the rest of the state and the nation. No commercial transit service exists in our part of Kentucky—not a commercial airline, not a passenger rail service, not even a commercial bus service,” said Judge Rutherford.
Recently, Judge Rutherford met with John Owen, a community intercity operations director for Kentucky-based Miller Transportation, Inc., which operates the Miller Trailways bus service. The two men discussed the need to bring commercial buses back into rural areas such as Pike County, and also the possibility of Miller Transportation creating a Trailways bus line to take Pike Countians to and from Lexington.
In the past, Pike County was serviced by Greyhound buses, but the company discontinued the line several years ago, opting to limit services to urban areas only. Now, through federal subsidies being offered by the Federal Transit Administration, Owen said Trailways is looking to bring bus services back to rural areas such Eastern Kentucky.
“If Trailways commences services in Pike County, they will be filling a large gap in the lack of public transportation presently offered in this area. Several different areas of our population would benefit from the services, including college students, the elderly, and low-income residents. Many Pike Countians need to travel to Lexington for various reasons, one of the most important reasons being medical care, but they cannot do so because they either do not own their own transportation, do not own transportation reliable enough to travel the more than 300 miles round trip, or cannot afford to pay the cost of gas,” Judge Rutherford said.
Judge Rutherford has formed a local committee to encourage the initiative, and the committee is scheduled to meet with Miller Transportation President John Miller next Wednesday in Pikeville, to discuss the endeavor. Judge Rutherford has also written a letter to Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Joe Prather in support of a Pike County/Lexington transit line.
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# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 4:50 PM 
