After seven years of running in the red as a separate operation, NRoute is showing a profit.

The city transit system’s Board of Commissioners learned Wednesday that NRoute is finishing fiscal 2014 in the black with a net income of $18,499.70. The announcement came on the heels of an earlier announcement Wednesday that the Vicksburg Convention Center finished its fiscal year more than $7,000 in the black.

“It looks good,” said Nathan Cummins of May & Co., NRoute’s accountant. “Revenues were over expenses, so that’s great.”

“That’s what we’ve been working toward for years, to be in the black. Halleluiah!” commission chairman Don Brown said.

“Good job, well-done,” commissioner Eva Ford told executive director Evelyn Bumpers. “A pat on the back. If you don’t have management inside, it’s not going to work. I don’t care what kind of figures you put down, it’s not going to work if you don’t have management inside.”

Organized in 2006 as a city-operated bus system, NRoute became an independent operation run by a five-member, city-appointed board in 2007. Until Wednesday’s announcement, the bus system, despite receiving a city supplement, had been plagued with cost overruns, finishing with a deficit each year.

The present Board of Mayor and Aldermen in 2013 increased the then-cash strapped transit system’s annual supplement from $125,000 to $200,000 for fiscal 2014, and provided cash and in-kind services totaling more than $70,000 to help NRoute avoid a projected $55,532 deficit at the close of fiscal 2013. The supplement has been renewed for fiscal 2015.

The commissioners in March 2013 cut NRoute’s bus routes from six to three and laid off three drivers in a move that saved the bus system about $108,706 per year.

The commissioners in April 2013 reduced two full-time administrative employees to part-time, cutting their salaries and removing insurance benefits in a move that saved about $21,060 a year. An administrative assistant position was restored to full-time that June.

In other action, the commissioners:

• Learned ridership for October was 2,239 passengers as of Wednesday, down 2,108 from the 4,347 riders for the same period in fiscal 2014.

Fare revenue through Wednesday was $7,589.74, down $1,821.26, compared with the same period in fiscal 2014.

Bumpers said the difference was because NRoute lost its contract with MIDD-West Industries, which bought monthly passes for its clients. She added the loss will be made up through a new arrangement with Warren-Yazoo Mental Health to take clients to and from appointments.

She said the new agreement is expected to generate $18,000 to $20,000 a year for NRoute.

• Approved the system’s Title VI plan. Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects people from discrimination. Agencies receiving federal funds are required under the act to file an anti-discrimination plan. NRoute receives federal transportation funds administered through the Mississippi Department of Transportation.