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Highlands Today

Citizen Input Needed

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: September 11, 2007

SEBRING — Providing public transportation services has been identified as a top priority not only in Highlands, but also in Glades, Hardee and Okeechobee counties.

Within two to four years, state and federal funding is expected to be available for services that could range from a bus system to a dial-a-ride service, car or van pooling and employer-run shuttles within the six-county Heartland region.

Public comment on the transportation strategy being developed now –– the Heartland Mobility Plan –– is crucial, Lynn Topel said at Monday's meeting of the Highlands County Homeowners Association.

Questionnaires on public transit needs were distributed at the meeting by Topel, executive director, and Mary Freeman, public transportation coordinator, of Florida's Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiative (FHREDI).

"If all we have is government input it can't work, because it's for the people," Topel said. "We need the people's input, or we can't get it right."

Freeman said she will set up a series of public meetings on the public transportation issue and hopes to announce a schedule next week.

In the meantime, the 14-question survey can be obtained by contacting Freeman by phone, at 863-385-6739, or e-mail, mfreeman–frhedi@heartland-workforce.org.

"Sooner rather later, we're also hoping to have the questionnaire online, and we're talking with our webmaster about that now," Freeman said.

Key questions on the survey include where you need to travel most often, what you consider a reasonable one-way fare for public transportation, and at what price of gasoline would you look for alternative transportation.

Another questions asks what type of public transit you would use among eight options: car pool, van pool, dial-a-ride, bike lanes, pedestrian/bike paths, door-to-door pickups, employer-run shuttles, and a bus system.

In October 2008, a public transportation plan for the six-county Heartland Region will be submitted to the Florida Department of Transportation by the Center for Urban Transportation Research of the University of South Florida and the consulting firm of Tindale-Oliver & Associates.

"This will not be a free service, it will not be a free ride," Topel said. But, she said, any services launched will have to be low-priced and affordable for low-income, entry-level workers and senior citizens living on fixed incomes.

Freeman said the plan will not only propose services within each of the six counties, but also to connect the counties of DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands and Okeechobee, plus the communities of Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay and Immokalee.

While the plan is a year away from completion, Topel said, "we're looking for new, creative ways" to provide public transportation.

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