Vicksburg officials will accept comments on a public transportation plan they have endorsed at a hearing at 10 a.m. Friday at City Hall Annex.

The hearing is part of the process of seeking a $328,000 federal grant through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The grant would be combined with a $500,000 earmark through Congress to cover part of the estimated $1.1 million start-up cost of a public bus system. The remaining cost could come from different local sources.

Consultants who presented the Chamber of Commerce with a study recommended a five-route system through the city and county with a downtown hub. Those consultants, hired through a grant, also said that Vicksburg would be likely to win the funding and could start a system by early 2006.

Vicksburg last had a public transit system in the 1960s. It shut down due to lack of use. An experiment with motorized trolleys was conducted in 1993, but also failed due to a lack of riders.

The Chamber committee recommended the project based on 2000 census figures showing about 20 percent of area residents do not drive or own vehicles. Officials say that a public transportation system would be largely funded through grants and would provide residents with a way to get to work.