Commissioners can’t justify transit

Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners isn’t convinced that the county transit program is worth continuing for another year.

Commissioner Bob Cole said during an Aug. 22 meeting that he couldn’t justify supporting the program for another year if the passengers weren’t paying for a majority of the costs.

“I have to look at what’s good for a majority of citizens, but only a small portion are taking part in the program,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t recommend continuing the program unless it had considerable growth in next few months.

Nancy Model, county transportation planner, gave commissioners a report of how the program performed during its first six months of operation. The pilot program had two buses running eight 23-mile trips a day from East Milton to Pensacola on U.S. Highway 90 on Monday through Friday. The first ride begins at 5:05 a.m. and the routes end at 7:57 p.m.

For more on this story, see the September 1 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.