[8/11/04]A consultant working with a local committee on public transportation laid out a plan Tuesday night that would create five bus routes through Vicksburg and serve major industrial areas and the hospital.

About 20 people, mostly representatives of the City of Vicksburg and the Chamber of Commerce, attended the public meeting with A.T. Stoddard of LSC Consultants. Stoddard said a final presentation to local government leaders should be made later this year. He also said the proposals were tentative.

“If you’re looking for answers to where the bus stops are going to be, we’re not there yet,” Stoddard said.

He did lay out five routes with a hub operating somewhere in the downtown area near Clay and Washington streets. Those five routes are:

From downtown to Ceres.

From downtown to Kings and the port, and to River Region Medical Center via Jackson Street.

From downtown to Rainbow Casino on Warrenton Road.

From downtown to Vicksburg Factory Outlets via Clay Street.

From downtown to Wal-Mart SuperCenter via Cherry Street, Halls Ferry Road and Pemberton Square Boulevard.

Stoddard said those routes would include a flexible routing service that would also pick up passengers in adjacent areas where there were no scheduled stops.

The routes would be run 12 hours a day, and the entire transit system would cost about $900,000 annually to operate. City Planner Wayne Mansfield said the bus fares would pay about 15 percent of that cost, but the rest would come from other sources, including grants.

Exactly how much would be left for the local governments to pick up was not known, but North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young said she fully favors investing city tax dollars in the program.

“It’s just like the convention center. When we put money into that, we knew we’d never get it back, but the economic benefits are worth it,” Young said.

South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman said he would have to see more details about the proposal before committing to city funding.

Others at the meeting included Jim Stirgus Sr., chairman of the Chamber of Commerce public transportation committee. He said the proposed routes need more work to take in more low-income housing areas, including the Vicksburg Housing Authority units that Stirgus manages.

“This is where the people are who need the transportation to get to work,” Stirgus said.

At one time, Vicksburg was served by buses along most of the main streets of Vicksburg and as far north as Kings. The company went out of business in the 1960s.

Today, there is no public transportation except for taxis.

Figures from the last U.S. Census showed that nearly 10 percent of Warren County residents have no available transportation, and nearly 15 percent rely on carpools, but only 1.2 percent use public transportation.

National statistics show that 40 percent of low- and moderate-income families’ personal income is spent on transportation needs. Locally the average income is $17,527.