OTTUMWA —
The good news means a lot to Ottumwa Transit advisory board members, who heard this week about the number of bus passengers using the service.
“We looked at financial reports, and we looked at ridership,” said Robert LaPoint, the chairman of the advisory board.
He said for the month of September, Transit had 18,949 riders.
“We were happy with that,” LaPoint said. “Last September, we had 16,605.”
Numbers from before then are difficult to trust, officials have said. So the city and the new board wondered what “the real numbers” would look like when an accurate, verifiable count was made.
The advisory board was started after an investigation determined possible wrongdoing within the former bus service when it was known as “The Ottumwa Transit Authority.”
The City of Ottumwa took over and oversees bus transportation with a city department simply called Ottumwa Transit. Upper management from the city have stayed closely involved in the operation. They also created the new board, which provides advice and some oversight but leaves the city in control of decision making.
Investigators alleged that in previous years buses were rented to groups for charter in violation of government regulations, records on ridership and payroll were improperly maintained and that numbers reported about passengers were falsified.
Yet those inflated numbers were used to determine how much money the bus service received from state and federal sources.
The money is being steadily paid back to the government.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” said Joni Keith, the City of Ottumwa’ attorney and human resources manager. “The budget looks good; I don’t see any particular issues there. We’re able to pay money back to the state — and still have a little in the bank left over.”
Funding is still based on ridership.
“The numbers are steadily rising,” Keith said.
The biggest jump in passenger rides, said LaPoint, can be attributed to the development boom out at the area surrounding the Ottumwa Regional Airport.
“The airport [route] had 215 riders last September,” he said. “This year for September, there were 3,337.”
He mentioned the Iowa Works center, Ottumwa Job Corps and a high school program taking place out there.
Across the city, he said, some routes are up or down, but overall, the numbers are going in the right direction. So is the reputation of Ottumwa Transit, Keith said.
Though there was some hesitation at first, officials at the state level have seen that Ottumwa’s takeover has been good for the department.
“The DOT has been super to work with,” said Keith.
She believes the sincere efforts made by the city to do the right thing — a different type of board, city management of the operation, firing the old manager, hiring a former police lieutenant to help keep the department within the law, retaining an IDOT-recommended consultant to properly reconfigure routes and passenger counts — has resulted in an improved working relationship with IDOT.
Local News
Related Photos
-
Courier file photo
November 2, 2012
City buses move in the right direction
- Local News
-
- Tornado creates local questions OTTUMWA — If there's a tornado in Wapello County, where would I go afterwards? It isn't hard to understand why local callers are asking Wapello County Emergency Management that question. Josh Stevens, emergency coordinator for the county, said since
- A waiting game OTTUMWA — Family and friends of a hospitalized toddler are waiting for answers, as are local police. On April 22, officers found a 2-year-old boy unresponsive at his home in the 100 block of East Woodland Avenue. He was immediately transported to Ott
-
Training goes beyond fires
OTTUMWA — Our firefighters aren't afraid to run into a fire, said one official, but when it comes to a Hazmat situation, they walk. On Wednesday, the Ottumwa Fire Department was on the grounds of Cargill Meat Solutions, training as realistically as p
-
Hedrick teen missing
OTTUMWA — A 13-year-old Hedrick girl has been reported missing. Hunter Kopp, 13, was last seen leaving the Hedrick area (her hometown) around 6 p.m. Monday. Kopp is a white female, 130 pounds, 5-feet-7-inches, with shoulder-length brown hair and blue
- Veterinary clinic rezoned to commercial OTTUMWA -- The Ottumwa Veterinary Clinic is now officially a commercial district. At Tuesday's city council meeting, members voted 4-1 to approve the rezoning of the clinic from R-1 Single Family Residential to C-1 Commercial District, with Councilma
- Ottumwa lands 2015 Iowa Tourism Conference OTTUMWA — It takes two southeast Iowa communities to yank the opportunity to host the Iowa Tourism Conference from Des Moines. Ottumwa Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Mark Eckman was stunned by how quickly the Iowa Tourism Offi
- County to learn about disaster declarations OTTUMWA — The county is a step closer to finding out if they'll be getting money from the federal government. "FEMA was here last week, doing a damage assessment," said Wapello County Engineer Brian Moore during a meeting of the Wapello County Board
-
Oklahoma emergency crews will report specific needs soon
OTTUMWA — The sound of the telephone ringing is evidence to Julie Smithart that residents of Wapello County do care. The tornado damage to lives and property in Oklahoma has brought out the best in people, said Smithart, an AmeriCorps volunteer assig
-
Barber shows no signs of cutting career short
OTTUMWA -- Darrell Smith's hands are steady and sure as he picks up his clippers and straight razor to begin his first haircut and shave of the day. Smith, 88, has cut hair for 62 years and has owned Smitty's Barber Shop on Albia Road for the past 58
- Making memories on stage -- and off OTTUMWA -- Sold-out shows last year inspired Bridge View Center management to continue finding high-quality acts, they announced Monday. The venue's executive director, Larry Gawronski, said last year, booking good, expensive shows was a "leap of f
- More Local News Headlines
