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TPO directs staff to report on rural and countywide transit options within 90–120 days
Summary
After extended discussion about mobility gaps in rural Alachua County, the board unanimously directed staff to prepare a 90–120 day presentation on how similar communities operate and fund rural and countywide transit, including governance and pilot options.
The Gainesville–Alachua County Transportation Planning Organization unanimously voted June 15 to ask staff to return in 90–120 days with a formal report on approaches other counties and communities use to provide rural and countywide transit service.
Member Cornell moved "consistent with existing board direction" that staff present options for addressing rural transportation issues—how services are operated and funded—within the 90–120 day timeframe. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
The motion followed an extended discussion prompted by a ridership briefing from transit staff. Board members described long travel times and service gaps for rural residents and urged examination of alternate models such as mobility-on-demand services, jitney/private operator arrangements, targeted capital investments for transfer stations, and creation of a countywide transit authority or ballot-funded sales tax. Member Hayes Santos and Councilwoman Taylor emphasized the need for countywide coordination and earlier board input on grant proposals; Mayor Ward and others noted funding constraints and said many solutions hinge on additional revenue.
Director Whitfield said staff would reconvene interested stakeholders, review origin–destination studies, and coordinate with RTS and university partners as part of the report. "The conversation is still going," she said, and members asked staff to include examples from similar university-centered mid-size communities rather than very large metropolitan systems.
The board asked the staff presentation to cover: governance models (transit authority versus partnership), funding approaches (millage, sales tax, state appropriations, public–private partnerships), pilot-service examples (jitneys, mobility-on-demand), and operational trade-offs (cost per trip, vehicle and labor factors). The board also requested information about how private or community-run services have been launched elsewhere and how those models performed.
What happens next: staff will return with a formal presentation in the requested 90–120 day window; the board expects concrete examples of comparable communities, funding models, and operational pilots that could be tested locally.
