With a smile on her face, transit driver Mary Hardy opens the door of her Lowndes County Transit Bus.

VALDOSTA — Lowndes County officials assure citizens who use the county’s current transit program that they will not be affected if the proposed Valdosta-Lowndes County Transit Service Plan is implemented in the area.

The current Lowndes County 5311 Transit Program falls under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Department of Transportation. Ten percent of the program is subsidized by the state and 80 percent is subsidized by federal funds. Lowndes County provides 10 percent of the cost of each bus.

Lowndes County’s 5311 Transit Program was implemented in December 2001 with only three buses. The program now includes six buses that provide transportation throughout Lowndes County.

The service is an extension of a state program, so the state requires that the third party operator, MIDS, Inc., contract with the Department of Human Resources (DHR) to transport clients such as senior citizens, mental health patients, DFACS clients, Medicaid recipients and vocational rehabilitation clients. Public ridership is also granted due to Lowndes County’s funding for each bus. As ridership numbers increase in the county, additional buses are added for the program.

Citizens call for pick up as needed and must make 24-hour advance reservation. The buses run from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Trips up to 10 miles within the county are $3 per trip and trips over 10 miles within the county are $5 per trip. Currently the system averages 614 public riders per month and 1,100 Department of Human Resources’ riders per month.

A resolution for the proposed Valdosta-Lowndes County Public Transit Service Plan was approved by the Valdosta City Council last month. The resolution will go before the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners at the next regular session for consideration and approval, on July 14.

As part of the resolution, the city and county would agree to partner with each, and various other entities, in the development of an Urban Fixed Route Public Transit System with five separate bus routes and a centralized transfer center located in the Pendleton Drive area.

The transit system is to be overseen by the Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) through the South Georgia Regional Development Center (RDC) for three years, during which time the creation of a Transit Authority will be explored.

“If the new transit system is approved, it will not affect the current 5311 transit program,” Lowndes County Public Information Officer Paige Dukes said. “It will simply complement the system.”

The 5311 transit program will not be affected because of the jurisdictional boundaries outlined in the proposed transit system.

“The proposed system will simply take care of the public riders within the city limits of Valdosta,” Dukes explained. “If and when the proposed system is established, the 5311 transit program will only transport public riders from a beginning point in unincorporated parts of Lowndes County, as well as the Hahira, Remerton, Dasher and Lake Park city limits.”

Dukes added that all DHR clients will still be served by the 5311 transit program regardless of their locations in the city or the county.

The major difference in the transit programs is distribution of funding. The proposed system will require a local capital investment to cover start up costs, while the 5311 program only required a local 10 percent match of the cost of three buses to implement the program.

The proposed system also offers a route system, while the 5311 system is based on demand-response.

“Another difference is that the current 5311 transit program is meant to be a rural program,” Dukes said. “The proposed system is designed to be more of a metropolitan type program aimed at servicing population densities that are usually found in cities.”

The MPO has discussed a completion time of April 2010 for the proposed transit system.