Friday was the last day for the Santa Rosa Transit — a two-year pilot public transportation program. The commission voted in October to no longer fund the county’s portion of the program. Operating costs for the program for December 2010 to November 2012 were $269,309. The county was responsible for funding 18 percent of operating costs with federal grants funding 77 percent and ticket sales accounting for only 5 percent of operating costs. The service began Dec. 7, 2010, with approximately 14,000 one-way tickets purchased over two years. Ridership increased from 167 in December 2010 to a peak of 841 passengers in October 2012. The transit ran mainly along U.S. 90, from the Santa Rosa Industrial Park to a connection to the Escambia County Area Transit system at Nine Mile Road and University Parkway. Santa Rosa County was the project manager, the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization procured the buses and was the federal grant recipient, and Pensacola Bay Transportation LLC was the operator.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Two-year transit service program ends