Connecting Geary, Riley and Pottawatomie counties, the ATA Bus services are a poster for regionalism in the Flint Hills.
Anne Smith, ATA Bus Director, said the progress toward inter-city and regional transportation began almost ten years ago.
“KDOT (Kansas Department of Transportation) started looking at regional transit connections and trying to build things regionally; [they] sponsored a pilot for us back in 2011 to expand into western Pottawatomie county and into Junction City and Geary county and on Fort Riley as well,” said Smith.
ATA Bus services began as a non-profit organization in 1976 in Riley county.
“Our services in Manhattan include a mix of on-demand where folks call in a day ahead of time and we have the fixed routes also, and we will transport anywhere here in Geary county – we have the on-demand, we have the fixed routes; and then we have what we call the intercity shuttle, which is a really great program that provides access across the three counties – you can travel from Junction City to anywhere in Geary county, Fort Riley, Ogden or over into Manhattan,” said Smith.
The fixed route services have been especially well received in Junction City.
“I am on the Geary County Health Counsel and every meeting that we would have every month I would get a report from the social worker at the hospital [about] how badly she needed transportation [for patients],” said Florence Whitebread, ATA Bus Board member. “When KDOT started those meetings ten years ago, I was at all of those meetings [and] I saw the need in Junction City.”
Junction City’s income per capita is $21,987 and the median household income is $45,106; needless to say, many may not have access to reliable transportation without ATA bus services. (Income per capita may vary two to three thousand depending on site)
“We have a town of a lot of one car families – if [you] expect both spouses to be working, somebody has got to have transportation if there’s only one car; in fact, there’s some families with no cars and we want to develop economic development, but if these people don’t have a way to work – you’re short changing them,” said Whitebread.
For more information on ATA bus services, click here.