The fee will now return to $1 per day.
However, County Manager Wayne Johnson stated that commissioners will review information about the transit system and a final decision on the fee will be made in the near future.
“The $ 1 per ride fee is pending a review to determine if we should go back to the previous rate or if we should keep the new one,” Johnson said last Friday.
Prior to the commission’s vote last week, Polk County resident Linda Atkins voiced concerns about the March 7 vote that increased the fare to $1 per ride.
Atkins, who teaches a Sunday school class for elderly women at Second Baptist Church in Cedartown, felt the increase would adversely affect local senior citizens who are on limited budgets.
During her appeal for a lower transit fee for senior citizens, she referred to a petition against the increase, signed by more than 100 residents who use the transit system to travel to the county’s two senior citizen centers.
Atkins said that the seniors would otherwise just be sitting at home if they were unable to ride the bus to the center where they can interact with other people.
The senior center services for the seniors include a balanced and hot meal, an exercise class, bingo, pool, diabetes testing and blood pressure checks and sometimes a day trip to events such as bowling.
“They have a hard time making ends meet,” she added. “I don’t think it is fair to put this burden on these people ....”
Atkins emphasized her belief that the county is not “so low on funds they can’t afford to keep the fare for seniors” as originally announced.
At the meeting, Commissioner Billy Croker proposed that people riding the bus to the county’s two senior citizen centers be given a pass that would cost $5 per week or $20 per month.
Commissioner Sandra Galloway said she was not against helping the senior citizens but believed it would be difficult to implement the plan proposed by Croker. She pointed out that the fee should be fair to all riders.
Polk Transit Director Cathie Hendrix said she was surprised at the number of people reported as county bus riders going to the senior centers.
“Since Aug. 1,” she said, “we have had 11 people riding the county’s bus to the senior center. We have transported six people – four from Cedartown and two from Rockmart – on Polk buses.”
She said all riders have been informed of the board’s latest decision. Signs announcing the recent fare increase have been removed.
Meanwhile, Hendrix said she would wait until the board makes a final decision about the fare before any other
changes are made.
“I understand they are viewing options and how to implement a fee that will be fair to everyone,” she added.
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