By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
One month in, the new Adams County Transit system is rolling along.
“We are going good, very good,” Michelle Lengerich exclaimed Monday. Lengerich is executive director of the Adams County Council on Aging which is administering the countywide transportation service that launched January 2.
“In January, we had 107 rides to work. That is just awesome. We’ve never had numbers like that before,” Lengerich said.
“Everyone I’ve talked to is excited about it,” said Stan Stoppenhagen, an Adams County commissioner who has been one of the prime proponents of the service.
The transportation system is set up through the Indiana Department of Public Transportation (INDOT). Todd Jennings, INDOT’s section 5311 program manager, was in Decatur recently “and said he is so pleased how we are doing, how the county is responding to the service,” Lengerich noted.
Jennings has been a key figure in getting the service underway.
“As I understand it, the state has not been doing individual counties; they’ve done it on a regional basis,” Stoppenhagen said. “But Todd Jennings was so impressed with Michelle and her program that he said, ‘I will work with you and get this done.’ So they worked together on the proposal (for INDOT).”
The transit service has been a long time coming.
Looking back, Pat Sefton, president of the council on aging board, said, “Several years ago when Sharon Tester (the council’s executive director at that time) was there we did a market survey and study; it showed it was something we definitely needed.
“We took it to the commissioners but they turned it down. We were really disappointed. They said they were concerned about the Amish haulers. But I think this will make things even better for the Amish.”
Sefton said he believes at that time Adams County was one of only three counties among Indiana’s 92 that didn’t have a transportation service of some sort.
“Well, later we went back and got it approved. Stan (Stoppenhagen) had come on the board (of commissioners) by then and he was very helpful, very supportive,” Sefton pointed out.
“Then Michelle picked up the ball and ran with it.”
Stoppenhagen thinks it was probably 10 or so years that the bid for a transportation service was initially turned down by the commissioners. He doesn’t think there is any need to be concerned about people who transport members of the Amish community.
“I don’t think it affects them. We’re a one-stop service,” he said.
Neither Stoppenhagen nor Sefton can say enough good things about how Lengerich has, as Sefton described it, “picked up the ball and ran with it” once approval was forthcoming.
“I can’t say enough good things about her,” Sefton said.
“She just gets things down; she’s just been great,” Stoppenhagen remarked.
LET’S RIDE: To secure a ride, an Adams County resident should call the council, 724-5316, 24 hours in advance of when they need the ride.
“You call us and we accommodate you however we can on the schedule,” Lengerich explained.
Hours of the service are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The fee schedule is as follows:
* Trips within Adams County of 0-9 miles, $5 each way.
* Trips within Adams County of 10-20 miles, $10 each way.
* Trips within Adams County of 21-30 miles, $15 each way.
* A medical trip from Adams County to Wells or Allen counties, $1 per mile up to 50 miles one way.
Children under the age of 12 and accompanied by an adult ride for $1.
Children under the age of 12 traveling alone will be charged the regular Adams County Transit rate.
Active-duty and retired military veterans ride free with proof of service.
Credit cards are accepted.
