Lextran pilot program pushed back to October

A plan that would launch Lextran bus service in Jessamine County has been pushed back to October, chamber of commerce director Amy Cloud said.

In June, the chamber announced a pilot program that would service Jessamine County with September slated as the starting date.

“It’s something that we’re still trying to do; they now have October down as the starting time, but we have to work to get some stuff done,” Cloud said. “This is something we’re going to do; it’s just a matter of getting it all worked out.”

Once launched, the bus service would pick up and drop off at Sam’s Club on Kohl’s Drive and at a to-be-named location in Brannon Crossing.

From there, it will travel to Walmart at the corner of Man O’ War and Nicholasville Road in Lexington. It will directly travel next to Central Baptist, then to University of Kentucky Medical Center and finally to the downtown transfer station. There will be no stops between, Cloud said in June.

The pilot program will be made possible by a matching grant between Lextran and the Jessamine County community.

“(The federal grant) will pay half, and Lextran has to come up with the other half, and Lextran said that they would split that with Jessamine County and come up with $7,200,” Cloud said in June.
Cloud said Lextran and Jessamine County have three years to come up with the split, and she said the local portion comes from Jessamine Countians who purchase the bus passes and pay the daily fares.
In June, Jill Barnett, director of community affairs for Lextran, said the pilot program would act as a barometer for the bus service.

“Partnering and expanding service to Jessamine County will allow us to take a more regional approach to transportation, gauge the potential demand for service in other areas, and hopefully expand our ridership,” she said.

Lextran serviced Jessamine County once before between October 1997 and February 1999.
Cloud said she hopes the service will appeal to people in Garrard, Boyle and Lincoln counties who commute through Jessamine County to get to Lexington.

The key, Cloud said, is selling the program locally.

The chamber of commerce conducted a survey in June to gauge residents’ interest in the bus service.
Cloud said the survey showed the 6:30-6:45 a.m. departing time and the 5 p.m. returning time was the most popular.

“It did help to determine the two times it would come in the morning and the two times it would come in the evening,” she said. “That was what the survey was about — first, would you use it, and second, what times would you use it? It looks like you were looking at people to use it who work from 8-5.”