Transit Leaders Plan Bus System

The University of Arkansas, the city of Fayetteville and Ozark Regional Transit Inc., three area public transportation providers, are putting the final details on a cooperative proposal to establish a fixed-route bus system in Fayetteville.

On May 21, Phil Pumphrey, executive director of ORT in Springdale, plans to propose a project that would dramatically reorganize local public transportation. During its first two years, the system’s budget could reach $1 million.

Employers, especially those in the industrial sector, should embrace the concept of a fixed-route bus system in Northwest Arkansas, Pumphrey said. Cheap or free and dependable carriage to work could loosen the area’s tight job market. Single-car families, low-income residents or driver’s license-less people could use the bus system to join the labor pool.

Unskilled workers can use the bus system to help keep a job for a longer period and seek higher positions within a company. Better-paid employees increase the local tax base and fuel the economy.

Under Pumphrey’s plan, Fayetteville would dissolve the current Fayetteville Trolley system, which now runs two routes in the southern part of the city. The Trolley’s former coverage would be managed by UA’s Razorback Transit, which travels a web of fixed routes reaching as far north as Joyce Boulevard.

Pumphrey said some of the money budgeted to operate the Trolley would funnel into ORT’s mass-transit design. Last year, the city spent about $114,000 to operate the Trolley, which carried 26,357 riders. Pumphrey said he’s confident he could get $100,000 from the city for a revamped public service system.

Half of the proposed budget would come from local sources such as the city of Fayetteville and private investors, and matching money would come from the state’s welfare-to-work grants and the Federal Transportation Administration’s job-access grants.

Pumphrey said the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department assured him he could get up to $500,000 in matching funds over two years for the concept.

ORT administrators still are mapping possible routes for the proposed system. The locations of high-density housing, medical centers, social services, shopping centers and industrial areas are all flagged on a wall map in ORT’s conference room.

Sunday and night routes are also possibilities for the new system. Eventually, a similar project could be implemented in other Northwest Arkansas cities, but Fayetteville is the initial test site.

Along with trying to launch the new bus system, ORT is pursuing a change in legal status from a nonprofit organization to a regional transit authority. Until last fall, ORT was managed by Community Resource Group, but now four city mayors and four county judges direct ORT’s board.

To become an authority, ORT must be approved by the area quorum courts and city councils, a process that could take most of the summer.

Currently, ORT’s annual budget is $1.8 million. Pumphrey said the cities of Fayetteville and Springdale give the most with roughly $50,000 each, and Rogers gives $40,000. Other area cities and Benton, Washington, Carroll and Madison counties give another $76,000 combined.

ORT now uses a fleet of 25 vehicles to carry about 11,000 passengers each month. Forty employees, 28 of whom are drivers, staff the company.

Laying the groundwork for an authority and researching a fixed-route transit system have kept Pumphrey busy since he joined ORT’s staff as part of the company’s management contract with First Transit of Cincinnati.

Pumphrey said he was given a choice when he joined ORT: Either find new sources of revenue or start making some cuts. Although he said no public transit systems really make money, instigating a fixed-route system will increase ORT’s revenue.

For another source of income, Pumphrey is negotiating with sign companies to put large vinyl-wrap advertisements on the sides of the ORT vehicles. Initially, ORT would earn about $1,000 per month and an advertising revenue commission of 25 percent from the sign shop. Over a five-year contract, ORT would increase the commission to 45 percent.

Real estate companies and restaurants are likely candidates for the medium.

Before moving to Northwest Arkansas, Pumphrey worked as general manager of the public transportation system in Monroe, La. All told, he has about 20 years in the industry.