York County to apply for NDOT transit funds and set April 4 hearing for proposed fare increases

York County commissioners voted to submit a two-year public-transportation operating-assistance application to the Nebraska Department of Transportation and set a public hearing for April 4 to consider proposed fare changes for expanded out-of-county services.

Public-transportation director Lori explained the two-year budget estimate and reimbursement process for federal and state funds, and said the county must lock in state fund estimates when it files the application. She described proposed fare adjustments: raising Thursday out-of-town round trips from $12 to $15, keeping in-county fares unchanged and segmenting expanded out-of-county trips into two distance bands (within 60 miles = $20 round trip; 60–120 miles = $40 round trip). The director said these changes are intended to better cover operating costs for long-distance trips and to reflect driver downtime when a single-driver trip requires waiting many hours for riders' appointments.

"When we request these monies to NDOT, we're getting, we're requesting reimbursement for federal funds and state funds and giving them an idea of what we're going to be providing as far as local funds go," Lori said during her presentation. Commissioners asked about volunteer drivers, vehicle availability and how the sliding-fee scale and HHS billing interact with the proposed fares.

The board adopted a resolution to submit the application, approved setting the April 4 public hearing and accepted an updated Title VI policy for York County Public Transportation as required by NDOT and federal guidance.