Fewer people are using NRoute buses, and the system’s fares and schedules are inconsistent, city figures and findings from a random sampling of NRoute routes by The Vicksburg Post news staff shows.

Since its inception in 2006 an estimated $4.3 million has been spent on the service through grants and local funds. Fares collected from NRoute in the six years total $235,710.

The city alone has spent $1.3 million, while the county has spent $191,922 and $2.8 million has been obtained through grants.

The unscientific sampling by The Vicksburg Post was conducted between June 27 and July 12. During that time, members of the news staff recorded their observations as they rode random bus routes at random times.

The observations include:

• Few other passengers or potential passengers at designated stops. In some cases, the reporter was the only passenger. Some drivers consistently failed to stop at designated stops. One driver running a casino route drove through parking lots without slowing down.

• The advertised bus fare is $2, but on different occasions reporters were told by drivers to pay 75 cents, $1 or $1.25. In some instances, exact change was required.

• On several occasions, drivers for the casino and Vicksburg Mall routes were observed exceeding the speed limit by as much as 20 mph.

• Several of the buses began their routes late, while others started as many as 7 minutes early.

• Lighted marquees on the buses are not used, forcing prospective passengers to ask the drivers which route they are running.

NRoute runs two vans and two buses daily and is scheduled to run 21 routes on Monday through Friday.

The issues

NRoute commissioners Mark Buys and Alvin Taylor declined to comment on the observations, deferring to executive director Evelyn Bumpers, but commissioner Don Brown said, “If the executive director and the staff are aware of the issues, they will take steps to get them corrected.”

Bumpers said the marquees were not used because NRoute lacks the money to get the stencils made for them.

She said drivers are told and reminded about NRoute’s fare schedule, but did not know the reason for the inconsistency.

She declined to comment on driving issues without further research.

“The fact that I was one of the officials to sign NRoute into inception and then receive a report such as this to say at the least it upsets me,” North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said. “I think all funding parties should call a meeting with the NRoute board and ask for some meaningful answers. These allegations cannot and should not go unchecked.

“There are currently a host of naysayers when it comes to the management of this transit service, so it’s a must that we find a resolution to what is currently going on, because this service must and has to be properly managed,” he said.

Mayor Paul Winfield and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman declined to comment.

Six years in

NRoute was formed as a city department in 2006, three years after the city instituted tougher regulations on taxi cabs, forcing two Vicksburg cab services to shut down.

The buses began rolling in June 2006 and NRoute became an independent operation in October 2007, run by a five-member board.

Currently, the board is short two members because of the resignations of Rose Carson in 2010 and Diane Gawronski in 2011. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen has not appointed replacements, and the board canceled its May and August meetings for lack of a quorum.

The transit system is funded by three sources: Federal transportation grant funds administered through the Mississippi Department of Transportation, which makes up the bulk of the system’s revenue, an annual city supplement of $135,000 and fares from riders. It also receives $30,100 from Warren County annually.

Its fiscal 2012 budget is $780,000, and NRoute has received additional supplements totaling $30,895 from the city since June to head off a projected $15,000 year-end deficit. The fiscal year ends this month.

The transit system has requested $264,063 from the city for fiscal 2013. Bumpers said she anticipates about $450,000 in federal transportation funds.

She said NRoute in July signed a contract with Warren-Yazoo Mental Health for transportation services, adding Warren-Yazoo will be billed monthly for the service. She said the system also has a contract with MIDD-West Industries, where riders buy passes.

The bus fare is $2 or 75 cents for senior citizens and 50 cents for children. Riders may buy daily passes for $4 each, weekly passes for $15 and monthly passes for $35. Bumpers said the weekly and monthly passes are available at the NRoute office at 2501 Halls Ferry Road.

Initial budget estimates made when NRoute began projected the system would have to generate about $71,000 a year from fares to be solvent, but in more than six years, the system has yet to generate anything near that amount.

Decline in riders

Ridership has declined since fiscal 2008-09, when the transit system had its highest participation with more than 57,000 passengers. That total had dropped to 35,242 for fiscal 2011, the most current year available.

Bumpers cited several reasons for the decline.

She said NRoute cut its routes and stopped Saturday routes in 2010, and the spring 2011 flood affected ridership that year.

Bumpers said new cab and shuttle services, which launched after the Winfield administration softened the regulations instituted in 2003, have also taken a toll.

“We’ve had some competition from the cabs and shuttle services, and some of our riders left, but are returning,” she said. “Most of them said they liked the idea of buying a monthly pass instead of paying a fare per trip.”

The biggest effect on NRoute’s ridership, she said, has been the economy.

“Many people rode the buses to go to work and lost their jobs,” she said. “Since they’ve lost their jobs, they can’t afford to ride the buses.”

She said the NRoute board had considered holding a public transit day offering 25-cent fares to encourage more interest in the system.

The system in October reworked its routes, discontinuing some stops on Clay Street and at several medical offices.

According to NRoute’s monthly statistics, during fiscal 2006-07, the system’s first full year of service, 27,217 people rode the buses, generating $26,050.74 in fares, an average of 95 cents per rider. In its second year, NRoute had 33,504 riders paying $31,929.27 in fares, also 95 cents per rider.

In fiscal 2008-09, NRoute’s biggest year for participation, 57,866 people rode the bus, paying $50,390.96, or an average of 87 cents per rider. The next year, 49,612 people rode the bus and paid $51,217.32 in fares for an average of $1.03 per rider, in part because the fare was increased.

Last year, 35,242 people rode the buses. As of August, 32,910 people have ridden the bus with one month left in this fiscal year. The average fare in 2011 increased to $1.07 per rider. Through August of this fiscal year it averages $1.05 per rider.

Bumpers said the passes, which can allow unlimited access to ride the buses, were the reason for the disparity between the number of riders and the fare totals.

She said NRoute is a worthwhile investment for the city, despite the fact that it’s losing money.

“People use the buses to shop, go to work, the doctor,” she said. “Our riders will tell you they enjoy using our buses and they help them. I can see the justification in it because of the economic impact. For every dollar that’s spent, it turns over six times.

“Public transportation is not a money-making business,” she said. “It’s the same in any city wherever you go in the United States. That’s just the way it’s set up.”