NRoute selected for experiment in transportation

Published 12:00 am Sunday, March 29, 2015

The Mississippi Department of Transportation wants NRoute to be part of an experimental program that would provide transportation services for potential employees of a manufacturing company locating in the Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex that is expected to begin operation in January.

NRoute executive director Evelyn Bumpers told the transportation system’s Board of Trustees Wednesday the state program involves developing vanpool to take employees to and from Mississippi TanTec Leather Inc., a leather tanning and processing business owned by Germany-based ISA TanTec, an international leather marketing company.

“What the van pool does, it makes the employees responsible for taking care of all the expenses,” she said. “The driver (a TanTec employee) normally rides for free, because they’re responsible for picking up everybody and getting them to the place. Everybody is charged a certain amount per week or bi-weekly to ride the van. The only thing we’re responsible for is to make sure they are maintained.”

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Bumpers said the program would require four 12-passenger vans, which NRoute will purchase using federal transportation grant funds and state multimodal funds. The program would begin in fiscal 2016, which starts in October.

MDOT, she said, “just approached me with this, and we’re going to try and make it work.”

The maintenance and other operating costs will be included in the fee the passengers pay, she said.

“This is something the Department of Transportation is encouraging us to do, and they want to make NRoute one of the test sites for the state to make this happen,” she said. “This is a totally different service (than NRoute’s regular routes) that we would be providing. This is what we do. We’re in the transportation business, so what better place to start.”

The plant will open in the former Calsonic auto supply warehouse.

ISA TanTec, which tans and packs raw leather at plants in China and Vietnam, sells leather to shoe makers including Timberland, Wolverine, Dockers, Clarks, Merrell, Sperry, Rockport and New Balance, among other apparel makers. The company’s investment in its first U.S. tannery totals $10.1 million and involves hiring 366 people within five years.

Madison, she said, has a similar arrangement with industries there.

In other action, the board:

• Learned NRoute’s budget remains in the black, showing a net income of $28,394.52 for the first five months of fiscal 2015. Nathan Cummins with May & Co., the bus system’s accountant said he would present an update on NRoute’s finances after six months at the April meeting.

• Learned ridership was up for the for the first six months of the fiscal year through Wednesday, with 22,091 riders compared with 21,605 for the same period in fiscal 2014. Revenue was down $3,781.15, from $53,639.56 for the first six months of fiscal 2014 to $49,858.41 for the current period.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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