Mass Transit Magazine

VALDOSTA — A pilot public transportation shuttle program may have to be expanded as riders have filled vans to capacity.

The pilot program, provided by the Southern Georgia Regional Commission, has had tremendous feedback since its unveiling, said J.D. Dillard, SGRC transit and mobility coordinator.

Dillard said more than 185 residents have registered for the program and the SGRC has answered a lot of phone calls since the program’s inception.

The program, which is free, involves one shuttle at a time operated by MIDS running a fixed 15-mile loop with eight stops.

Dillard said the service alternates between a 15-passenger van and a 10-passenger van with wheelchair access.

Friday, the 15-passenger van arrived at Goodwill at 9:33 a.m. with no passengers, and no passengers aside from Dillard and a Valdosta Daily Times reporter boarded the shuttle.

The bus exited the Goodwill parking lot towards Norman Drive and arrived at its second stop, the Valdosta Mall, at 9:36 a.m. No passengers boarded the shuttle, and while the going had been slow for the service at that point Friday, bus driver Tymeka Brown noted multiple riders at the start of the day.

The shuttle left the mall and moved north towards Baytree Road, turning onto Alden Avenue after a short distance, taking the road to Patterson Street and to its next stop in front of the South Georgia Regional Library, where it stopped at 9:49 a.m. Again, no passengers were picked up or dropped off.

From there, the shuttle left on Woodrow Wilson Drive, crossing Ashley Street, turning right on Lee Street. This is a change from the original route, which took the service straight down Patterson Street to the Daniel Ashley House and the Department of Labor.

Instead, the shuttle service travels south on Lee Street, stopping at the Ora Lee West complex at 9:54 a.m., again without passenger movement.

Dillard said the change was made to the route to better serve the community and still make the one-hour timeframe.

Two passengers boarded at the Daniel Ashley House, as business for the day began to pick up, the next stop on the route at 9:59 a.m. Both passengers sang the praises of the pilot program, saying this was their only way to move around town.

“I had to pay somebody to get around, or walk. I’m not able to do much walking. I got a scooter and a chair, but this is a lot safer for me,” said Marsha Taylor, who boarded the bus at the Ashley House. “When you’re on a fixed income, transportation is not included.”

The next stop put the shuttle at the Mildred Hunter Community Center at 10:05 a.m., where four people boarded and another boarded across the street at the Hudson Dockett complex, while two more gave their applications directly to Dillard, who was sitting in the front seat next to Brown.

One of the new riders, Willie Mae Swackend, was working on recruiting people for the service.

“I had people come to me for papers,” Swackend said. “I might need some more.”

Swackend said the shuttle represented a reliable form of transportation.

“People don’t want to pick you up,” Swackend said. “People lie. They say they’ll pick you up and they won’t.”

As others handed Dillard their information, a rider suggested the shuttle service utilize a bigger bus just for Hudson Dockett.

The demand meant the shuttle took eight minutes to leave the area, which it did at 10:13 a.m.

The van made its way to its next stop, in front of the Second Harvest food bank at 10:21 a.m. where no passengers boarded or left.

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