Polk County’s senior citizens are worried about the price increase that will affect the Polk County Transit service.

The $1-per-ride increase was voted on and passed at the March 7 Polk County Board of Commissioners meeting.

Seniors had been able to pay $1 and be taken to more than one place without further charge, sometimes traveling to three or more places, according to County Manager Wayne Johnson.

Fixed and low incomes could possibly prevent senior citizens from getting where they need to go if they have to pay a $1 fee for every ride each day, explained Linda Atkins, a county resident who works with local seniors and is a senior citizen herself.

She is circulating a petition against the new fees to present to the county commissioners in hopes that they will reconsider the fee, especially for senior citizens. She has so far collected 101 signatures.

Atkins is a Sunday school teacher of an elderly ladies class at Second Baptist Church in Cedartown. She also became involved with the Nathan Dean Senior Center when she began taking one of her class members to the center to participate in special activities.

Polk Transit Director Cathie Hendrix said that the high cost of fuel is having an impact on the cost of the countywide transit system, making it necessary to increase

the fee.

Johnson echoed Hendrix’s comments regarding the increasing cost of fuel. “The fee increase is more related to our budget than anything else. There’s an increase in the price of fuel and that makes it hard to get those buses on the road.”

Even with the increase, Johnson said the county transit service does not come “anywhere close to breaking even,” financially speaking. The county transit system serves all residents in the county, not just senior citizens.

Roberta Keene, director of the Polk County Nutrition Project for the Elderly, which is located at the Northwest Park Nathan Dean Senior Center, said she is “very concerned” about the fee increase.

She explained that it already costs a senior $20 a month if they visit the center every day using the transit.” She continued that considering some seniors live on $350 a month, spending just one extra dollar on transit service would add up to a $40 a month increase. An increase that Keene said would be hard for seniors to afford.

Keene said that the seniors would otherwise just be sitting at home if they were unable to ride the bus to the center. The services for the seniors include a balanced and hot meal, an exercise class, Chinese checkers, bingo, pool, diabetes testing and blood pressure checks and sometimes a day trip somewhere.

The increase will probably prevent many seniors from going to the center, she explained, which will result in cutbacks on funding at the center.

Many seniors don’t understand why the county transit charges a per-ride fee, while the city’s transit system charges no fee at all.

Hendrix explained that the fee is charged because the county transit system covers a larger area than the city. She said they may pick up someone in Esom Hill and bring them town and then go to the Floyd County line to do a pick up. “I’m not trying to be uncompassionate,” Hendrix said, “It’s just that we cover a large territory.”

Hendrix said that a taxi can cost much more than what the county is charging now.