CAPE COUNTY TRANSIT SERVICE GETS $1 MILLION

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Transportation has budgeted more than $307,000 in federal and state money to help operate transit services in Cape Girardeau County this fiscal year.

That's part of about $1 million a year in local, state and federal money for four major transportation providers: VIP Industries, which shuttles its sheltered workshop employees; Cape County Transit, which operates out of Jackson; the city of Cape Girardeau, which has a taxi coupon program; and Southeast Missouri State University, which operates a campus shuttle system.

The state and federal money distributed in the form of MoDOT grants includes $179,072 for the Cape Girardeau taxi coupon program, $81,691 for Southeast's shuttle bus system and $46,557 for Cape Girdeau County Transit. Transit services must provide matching funds to secure money from MoDOT.

This year, MoDOT has allocated more than $5 million to subsidize 31 transit services around the state. Nearly $4 million of the funding is federal money. Another $3 million in federal gas tax money is earmarked for new vehicles and other improvements for rural transit systems.

A new transit authority appointed by the Cape Girardeau County Commission is working to improve efficiency and coordination of transportation services throughout the county.

Phil Richeson, MoDOT's transit administrator, said the transit authority needs to control transit funding in Cape Girardeau County if it is to succeed. But in order to secure money from MoDOT, the authority would have to come up with matching funds, he said.

The authority hopes a consultant can provide some answers, including identifying funding sources and researching the feasibility of a fixed route system and centralizing dispatching of vehicles. The authority is in the process of hiring a consultant at a cost of $7,500 for the first six months subject to renewal for another six months at the same rate. The county government is paying the expense.