Lyon County’s public transportation, LCAT, is getting its share of stimulus money, Ken Barrows, manager of LCAT, said this morning.
Barrows said LCAT will be receiving funds through the Kansas Department of Transportation transit portion through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Lyon County will receive up $369,500.
The money will be used to buy: a 20-passenger bus with a lift for approximately $65,000; 20 shelters to be installed around Emporia; and new signs for all the bus stops. The shelters and signs will cost $165,500.
“The shelters are going to give LCAT a whole different perspective,” Barrows said.
In addition, another $139,000 will be allocated to a new dispatch center including mobile data terminals, dispatching software and radios. The system will be GPS-driven and the buses can be tracked at any time, Barrows said. It also allows maps to be sent directly to buses where riders can be picked up, eliminating paper.
“It will go straight to the bus to their computer,” Barrows said. “They will have computer screens in there.”
Barrows said the state will be able to track buses at any time as well, making the dispatch system truly centralized.
“They can go in at anytime and look and see where our buses are and how many people they are picking up,” Barrows said.
The new computer system will save time, fuel and man-hours, Barrows added.
Barrows said he is thrilled about the stimulus funds.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m pumped up. I’ve been wanting this since 2003. I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this. It’s all 100 percent paid for by the federal government.”
Barrows said local contractors will be used to keep the money in Lyon County.
“All the money we can will be kept right here in Lyon County,” he said. “It helps. It keeps people employed.”