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Outline of Need:
The Southwest Georgia United Empowerment Zone had a serious need for some kind of public transportation system, especially to help elderly and low-income residents. In the mid 1990s, community leaders began to collaborate on a plan for a transit system that was particularly needed in Dooly and Crisp Counties. Elderly residents were not able to get to medical appointments if they didn't have family to take them. Many welfare recipients were trying to go back to work, as required under Georgia law, but didn't own cars. These people needed transportation to classes (GED, job training), to child care facilities, and ultimately to their new places of employment, where they could start to earn money for a car.
How Rural Development Helped:
Rural Development provided $99,999 in Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) funds (learn more about this program) through the Dooly County Board of Commissioners for technical assistance to form a non-profit to operate the system. The RBEG grant was administered with the help of the Dooly County Board of Commissioners. Through the consulting efforts of Renaissance, Inc., a transportation advisory committee was developed to help get the system started. Ryan Kelly worked with the transportation advisory committee to create the Dooly-Crisp United Transportation System (DCUTS) Corporation. Next, the system was incorporated as a nonprofit and members were chosen for the Board of Directors. Mr. Kelly and the committee worked to get as many agencies as possible involved with project, including: Rural Development; the Georgia Departments of Transportation, Human Resources and Labor; the Dooly County Commission; the cities of Vienna, Unadilla, Lily, Dooling and Pinehurst; the Southwest Georgia United Empowerment Zone; and many others. Mr. Kelly also implemented the program and oversaw the initial operations with the Executive Director, Steven Dorough.
Mr. Kelly wrote the grant proposals to request and provide start-up funding for the transit agency to begin operation. Rural Development's RBEG Grant was used to get the project developed through the technical assistance of Mr. Kelly and Renaissance, Inc. The Rural Development funds also allowed DCUTS to get Crisp County involved through presentations at meetings and through public relations work. This project would not have been possible without Rural Development.
The Results:
DCUTS started in the fall of 1999 with a fleet of two vans. The vehicles were wheelchair accessible. The initial route covered Dooly County. A first year summary indicated a fleet of 10 vans, over 700,000 miles traveled to date, over 112,000 trips provided, 11 full-time employees and numerous job opportunities provided through public transit including educational, medical, social and employment trips. Ridership participated in several programs that provided job search opportunities as well as transportation to work on a daily basis. DCUTS was featured as a "best practice" at the 2001 Annual USDA Rural Community Development Conference in St. Louis. DCUTS has been operating "grant free" since November of 2001. This was realized after one year of operation!
In fall of 2002, DCUTS acquired three additional vans and expanded into Crisp County. This was a culmination of a year-long effort by DCUTS to expand services into the County. Local government agencies were approached about serving as the municipality in which to operate the program. DCUTS and the Crisp County Board of Commissioners reached an agreement where technical assistance would be provided to lay a foundation to establish a system. DCUTS was already providing Social Services transportation in Dooly and Crisp, so the formation of the new service would mean adding public transit to the mix in Crisp.
DCUTS has fare/box ridership, but also serves several social service agencies and organizations, including the Councils on Aging in Dooly and Crisp Counties; Departments of Family and Children Services in Dooly and Crisp Counties; Learnetwork; ACS State and Local Solutions; Project Excel; Leadership Dooly; Vienna Better Hometown; Cities of Vienna and Unadilla; Dooly County Chamber of Commerce; Big-Pig Jig; Aero-Dyne Youth Program; Bright Futures Youth Program; Mount Calvary Baptist Church Summer Food Program; Dooly County Board of Education and Economic Development Council; Vienna Housing Authority; Easter Seals of Southwest Georgia; and Vienna Historical Society.
DCUTS partnered with Crisp County Division of Family and Children Services and the Southwest Georgia United Empowerment Zone in the spring of 2003 to create the "Motorvator" Program, which provides transitional transportation for clients who are no longer eligible for the Federal "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" program. The Motorvator program lets these clients receive temporary transportation to work until they can purchase a car or make other arrangements. This program has helped many people keep their jobs.
Non-emergency medical transportation for the elderly and physically-challenged is an integral part of DCUTS, with half of the fleet being wheelchair-equipped.
DCUTS is pursuing $282,100 in funds from Rural Development's Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) program (learn more about this program) through the Southwest Georgia United Empowerment Zone. This money will be used to hire additional staff in the Cordele area to help expand services. DCUTS is currently negotiating with Logisticare to provide additional non-emergency medical transportation in the area. Additional programs to provide transportation for Veterans to receive medical care and attend programs are under development as well.
DCUTS by the numbers:
(December 2003)
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