System Description

Access Scioto County (ASC) is Scioto County, Ohio’s (77,046 est. 2004) public transit system.

ASC operates under the auspices of the Scioto County Commissioners and provides curb-to-curb Demand Response countywide transportation service to all of Scioto County and South Shore, KY. (612 sq. mi.), Monday through Friday from 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.   The countywide service requires at least 24-hour advance reservation.

ASC also offers a same day immediate Demand Response service called “Instant Access” for a limited area within Portsmouth, New Boston and Rosemount Monday through Friday from 7:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and Saturday 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.   The Instant Access service operates on a call per need and first come served basis.

The mission of ASC is to provide safe, reliable, affordable and efficient public transportation throughout the Scioto County area regardless of age, race, income or disability.

ASC is funded in part by grants from the Federal Transit Administration, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Office of Transit and the Scioto County Commissioners.

Access Scioto County (ASC) grew out of a grass-roots effort in the early 1990's by concerned citizens and social service and government agencies that came together to work towards establishing a county-wide coordinated transportation system to improve transportation services for citizens of Scioto County of which transportation services were unavailable, insufficient or inappropriate.

In September of 1993, the Scioto County Commissioners and this group, which was called the Scioto County Transportation Committee, applied for and received from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) a coordinated transportation grant.

This grant provided funding for capital and technical assistance to facilitate the establishment of a coordinated transportation project in Scioto County and included funds for the hiring of a transportation consultant.

In 1994 the Scioto County Commissioners appointed an advisory committee to work with ODOT officials and transportation consultants to continue to development the coordination project that had been renamed Access Scioto County and to recruit a Transportation Coordinator to manage the project.

In 1995 the Scioto County Commissioners appointed Valerie Stamper as the first ASC Coordinator.

 As a coordination project ASC established partnerships with several local agencies, including Scioto County MRDD, United Scioto Senior Activities, Inc. and RSVP, and others that were already providing transportation to provided transportation services for elderly persons and persons with disabilities. 

The first passengers were transported by ASC as part of the coordination project in 1996.  That year 6,139 passengers were transported by ASC.  

In 1998 ASC became one of Ohio’s rural public transit systems under the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Rural Transit Program.

Under this program, which is administered by ODOT’s Office of Transit, ASC was eligible to receive not only capital and technical assistance, but also state and federal funds for operating expenses.   Up to this point funds to operate ASC had been provided at the local level mainly from the Scioto County Commissioners.

The most significant change in moving from a coordination project and becoming a public transit system was ASC transitioned from only providing transportation for the elderly and disabled to being open to the public and providing transportation services available to anyone in Scioto County.  

The ASC service area covers all of Scioto County and South Shore, Kentucky.   

Everyday hundreds of people from all over the area, of all ages use ASC to travel to work, school, shopping, medical appointments and other destinations throughout the Scioto County area.

ASC has 15 vehicles 13 of which area operated on a daily basis. The rest are used as backup units and for special events.

Personnel

ASC employed 20-full-time and 1-part-time employees in 2006, which included four administrative staff, four operational staff and thirteen drivers.

The total payroll for ASC in 2006 was $639,106 including $403,188 in salaries and $235,918 in fringe benefits (PERS, Insurance, Unemployment and Medicare).   The payroll accounted for approximately 73.2% of the total ASC Operating Budget.

This compares to 12-full-time and 6-part-time employees in 2006 and a payroll totaling $593,249.

The 2006 ASC Staff members included:

Leroy Hackworth, Transportation Specialist/Dispatcher, employed since 1996

Dorothy Hammond, Driver, employed since 1997

Kelly Hatfield, Scheduler, employed since 2000

Penny Hubbard, Office Manager/Dispatcher, employed since 1999

Wanda Leedom, Administrative Assistant/Driver, employed since 1996

John McNutt, Driver, employed since 1999

Tom McKenize, Driver, employed since 1998

Larry Mullins, Coordinator/Driver, employed since 1998

Bill Potts, Driver, employed since 1999

Lisa Potts, Operations Manager/Dispatcher, employed since 2000

Rick Potts, Lead Driver, employed since 1999

Brian Setser, Driver, employed since 1999

Nathan Potts, Driver, employed since 2005

John Haberthy, Dispatcher, employed since 2005

Jason McNutt, Driver, employed since 2005

Julia Lunsford, Driver, employed since 2005

Ron Pickel, Driver, employed since 2005

New additions to the ASC staff in 2006 included Robert Donahoe, who rejoined the staff in June, Tom Lancaster and Don Gee who came aboard in January and Barb Setser who joined the staff in March.

Resignations in 2006 included drivers Robert McKeag and Treva Wiseman.  One staff member, Brandon Caldwell was terminated in July.

Each year ASC recognizes an office employee and a driver who has been selected by popular vote by their fellow employees as the Office Employee and Driver of the Year.   In 2006

Lisa Potts and Barb Setser were voted as Co-Office Employee of the Year and Brian Setser was chosen as Driver of the Year for the second year in a row.

The safety of our employees, passengers and the public at large are of great importance to ASC.  In order to promote safety consciousness among our drivers a safety award program was established in 2000.   Each year ASC recognizes each driver who logs at least 1500 hours driving time and successfully completes the year without a preventable accident, moving violation, unexplained damage to their bus or report of unsafe behavior by the public by presenting them with a Safe Driver Award.

ASC Driver Rick Potts were recognized for completing his seventh consecutive year of safe driving in 2006, while Brian Setser and Bill Potts were recognized for completing one-year of safe driving.

Wanda Leedom and Leroy Hackworth were honored for 10-years of service to ASC in 2006.   Leroy and Wanda were instrumental in the start up of ASC and through their hard work and dedication during the early days of ASC help insure the survival of the transit system.

Financial Report

The total operating budget for 2006 was the biggest in the history of ASC.  Coming in at $873,259 the 2006 budget was slightly over 10% more than 2005’s $793,430 budget.  

The 2006 operating budget was increased in response to the availability of more State and Federal grant funds. 

With the additional revenue ASC was able to add staff and expand services in 2006.

One of the leading expenses to increase in 2006 was salaries. In 2006 salaries increased $22,953 while there was a 22,905 increase in fringe benefits as a direct result of the additional staff.  In addition to the added staff, pay increases for existing staff, and an increase in the number of full time employees all contributed to the increases in the payroll expenses.

As usual most of the expense categories increased in 2006 with Rent increasing by nearly $12,000, Advertising by approximately $9,500, Fuel by $6,700, Contract Maintenance by nearly $3,900, Travel and Meetings by some $2,600 and Tires approximately $2,200.

The increases in the fuel, maintenance and tires were probably a result of added staff and service and the increasing age of the fleet.    

The increase in rent was due to the monthly rent increasing from $1,575 to $2,575.   

The increase in advertising was in an effort to better promote the transit system as suggested in the most recent Quality Assurance Review by the ODOT.

Of the total operating costs, $601,376 was attributed to operational costs and $271,882 was attributed to administrative costs.   This compares to $563,868 in operational costs and $229,562 in administrative costs in 2005.

As in most businesses the largest percentage of the operating budget went to payroll and related expenses for ASC in 2006 followed by fuel costs, vehicle maintenance and rent.  The percentages of the budget that each ASC operating expense made up in 2006 were relatively unchanged from 2005.  

ASC Operating revenue in 2006 included $303,591 in Federal assistance, $47,663 in State assistance, $6,682 in State Elderly and Disabled Fare assistance, $482,151 in Contract Revenue and $33,172 in General Public Fares.

This compares to $220,827 in Federal assistance, $57,028 in State assistance, $4,810 in State Elderly and Disabled assistance, $477,917 in Contract Revenue and $32,848 in General Public Fares.

For the seventh year in a row the greater part of revenue to operate the transit system continued to be derived from Contract Revenue.  Of the $873,259 in total revenue received in 2006, $482,151 was generated through contracts with the Scioto County Department of Job and Family Services (SCDJFS).  While the amount of Contract Revenue actually increased slightly from 2005 it made up a slightly smaller percentage of the over all revenue in 2006 dropping from slightly over 60% in 2005 to approximately 55% in 2006. 

This percentage is considerable higher when you take into account the amount of money that is deducted from the Contract Revenue and paid into the Capital Replacement fund as a surcharge to help compensate for the wear and tear on FTA resources used, recover local funds invested in the purchase of equipment, vehicles and facilities used to provide contract services and help fund future capital expenditures that help improve the delivery of services.

ASC transports passenger for SCDJFS under three separate contracts, including Prevention, Retention and Contingency (PRC), Title Twenty (TXX) and Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT formerly know as EMT).   The revenues from the PRC Contract provides transportation services for Scioto County’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) eligible families as they transition from welfare to work, while the TXX Contract provides transportation services for income eligible passengers 60 and older.   The NEMT Contract provides non-emergency medical transportation to those passengers who have a Scioto County Medical Card traveling to and from medical related activities.

The remaining percentage of funding for ASC in 2006 included 35% in Federal, 5% in State, 4% in General Public Fares and 1% in State Elderly and Disabled (E&D) funds.  

This compares to 28% in Federal, 4% in State, 4% in General Public Fares and less than 1% in State Elderly and Disabled (E&D) funds in 2005 and  29.5% in Federal, 7.6% in State, 3.9% in General Public Fares, 3.7% Local and .6% in State E&D funds in 2004.

For the second year in a row Contract Revenue increased from the previous year.  

Beginning in 2001 Contract Revenue had steadily declined until 2005 going from $500,586 in 2001 to $444,218 in 2002 to $435,448 in 2003 to $409,127 in 2004.

In 2005 Contract Revenue increased to $477,917 and slightly increased to again to $482,151 in 2006.

ASC was eligible for $58,663 in State Grant funds in 2006, which was the first time in five years the amount of available State funds was increased.   

The previous two years state funding for ASC had stayed the same at $57,028.   This followed a reduction the previous four years dropping from $59,464 in 2001 and 2002 to $58,522 in 2003 and $57,028 in 2004.

Unfortunately, ASC was not able to take full advantage of the increase in State funding allocation for 2006 because operating expenses were not high enough for ASC to pull down all the available funds.  As a consequence ASC received only $47,633 of the $58,633 that it was eligible for, thus losing approximately $11,000 in State Grant funds.     

Also for the second year in a row the State E&D Funds that ASC received saw an increase from the previous year going from $4,810 in 2005 to $6,682 in 2006.   This approximate 39% increased followed a modest increase in 2005 when the State E&D Funds increased from $4,210 in 2004 to $4,810 in 2005.

The 2006 amount was the highest that ASC has ever received in State E&D funds, however it maybe a little misleading due to the changes recently made in how the payment of State E&D funds are made.  Part of the total received in 2006 if I understand correctly was either part or all of the 2007 allocation.  So there’s a good possibility that ASC will not receive an additional State E&D funds in 2007.

Prior to 2005 the amount that ASC had received from the State E&D funds had declined going from $5,926 in 2001 and 2002 to $5,039 in 2003 to $4,210 in 2004. 

Since 2001 increases in Federal funds have helped offset the declines from other revenue sources.   Federal Funding for ASC increased from $110,456 in 2001 and 2002 to $166,933 in 2003 and to $220,827 in 2004 and 2005.  In 2006 ASC received a record $303,591 in Federal Grant funds.

There is an expected increase in State and especially Federal funds for 2007.   The Federal allocation for 2007 is $351,853 while the State allocation will increase to $60,697.  Hopefully ASC will be able to utilize the full State and Federal allocation that is available in 2007.

While Contract Revenue was not expected to increase from 2005 to 2006 it did slightly. 

In 2007 it is not likely that the Contract Revenue will increase again, but return to the trend of the previous years where it dropped some 18% between 2001 and 2004.

The financial outlook for 2007 is fairly optimistic with the expected decline in Contract Revenues being offset by the increases in State and Federal funds.

However, many variables such as the cost of fuel, vehicle maintenance, health care costs to name a few, remain very volatile and could have a drastic affect on the operating budget.

Not necessarily in 2007, but some time in the near future with the possibility of declining Contract Revenue and the uncertainly of State and Federal funding the financial burden to provide the same level of service currently provided by ASC will increasingly fall on local funding (i.e. Scioto County Commissioners?).   

Given the current drain on the County’s meager general fund by current obligations and the newly acquired expense of operating the new County jail it is highly unlikely that additional local funding will be available to support ASC.   

Without additional local commitment available in the future, increases in fares and cuts in service may become necessary to offset the decline in revenues.

The management of ASC is committed to only using fare increases and service cuts as a last resort however.

Operating Data

In 2006 ASC traveled 210,859 revenue miles and logged 18,180 revenue vehicle hours transporting 67,188 passengers.

This compares to 337,740 miles, 25,972 vehicle hours and 69,724 passengers in 2005.

The decrease in ridership from 2005 to 2006 marked the first time in four years that overall ridership had dropped.   The approximately 4% drop in 2006 follows a nearly 13% increase from 2004 to 2005 and a 14% increase from 2003 to 2004 and an approximate 5% increase from 2002 to 2003. 

The total number of passengers transported in 2006 was the third highest in the history of ASC only surpassed by the 69,724 passengers transported in 2005 and the 71,759 passengers transported by ASC in 2000.

Even though Contract ridership was up 13.4% in 2006 overall ridership declined due to an approximate 25% drop in General Public ridership.    

2006 marked the first time in three years that ASC didn’t set a new record for the number of General Public passengers transported.

General Public ridership had increased by 7,857 to 32,722 in 2005 as compared to the 24,865 General Public passengers transported in 2004.   The 31.6% increase in General Public ridership in 2005 followed an over 81% increase in General Public passengers from 2002 to 2003. 

The drop in General Public ridership in 2006 was a direct result of changes that had been made in late 2005 to ASC’s very popular Instant Access same day service.

In November of 2005 in order to reduce operating costs and curtail demand that was spiraling out of control ASC reduced the Instant Access Service hours to Monday through Friday 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. and increased the base fare to $2.00 per trip.  Before the IA service had operated Monday – Friday 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.   As a result IA trips dropped by nearly 43% from the third quarter to the forth in 2005 and overall General Public passengers dropped approximately 26.6% during the same time.

As a consequence of the changes made in the IA service General Public ridership dropped by 7,723 passengers from 2005 to 2006 going from 30,924 to 23,201.

Instant Access ridership led the decline in General Public ridership dropping nearly 47% from 2005 to 2006 down over 9,500 passengers going from 20,155 in 2005 to 10,631 in 2006.

In response to requests from our passengers and the availability of additional funds in July of 2006 changes where made again to the Instant Access Service.   

Additional service was added to the Instant Access service including Saturday operation from 9 AM until 4PM and service on Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day.  

In the past ASC had been closed on Saturday and on these holidays.   While these are all national holidays most do not impact our passengers, especially those who use us to go to work. 

The transit system being closed on these days created a lot of inconvenience for many of our regular passengers.

The response to the changes has been very positive and appreciated by our passengers.

For the third time since 2000 Contract ridership increased again in 2006. The 13.4% increase from 2005 followed a modest increase of 4.9% in 2005 from 2004. 

ASC transported an additional 5,187 Contract passengers in 2006 going from 38,800 in 2005 to 43,987 in 2006.  This follows an increase of 1,798 Contract passengers in 2005 from 2004 when Contract ridership went from 37,002 in 2004 to 38,800 in 2005.

The increases in Contract ridership mirror slight increases in case loads of the Scioto County Department of Job and Family Services.

Not only did Contract ridership increase overall, but also for the first time since 2001 the overall percentage that Contract ridership made up of total ridership rose.  In 2005 Contract ridership comprised 57% of total annual ridership.  In 2006 Contract ridership increased to 66% of total ridership.

Prior to 2006 the percentage of overall annual ridership that was Contract had consistently declined from 87% in 2001, 84% in 2002, 71% in 2003, 60% in 2004 and 57% in 2005.

The increase in Contract ridership in 2006 is believed to be an anomaly and not a new trend and is not expected to continue into 2007.   With General Public ridership expected to increase with the expansion of the IA service and Contract ridership expected to stay near its current levels the percentage of overall ridership that is made up of Contract riders is expected to drop in 2007.

2006 saw an increase in all Contract passengers ASC transported for SCDJFS under all three separate contracts, including Prevention, Retention and Contingency (PRC), Title Twenty (TXX) and Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT formerly know as EMT).  

The largest increase of Contract passengers came from passengers transported under the PRC contract which increased some 23% going from 11,307 in 2005 to 13,877 in 2006. 

As stated previously SCJFS reported that their caseload was up slightly, however not enough to explain the increase in the PRC passengers.  Instead it is suspected that through outreach efforts by ASC to education the SCJFS case workers about the transit system, more SCJFS clients are taking advantage of the service.

Passengers transported under the TXX contract increased approximately 12% increasing from 9,747 in 2005 to 10,923 in 2006.  Those passengers transported under the NEMT contract had the smallest increase, by increasing only 8.2% going from 17,691 to 19,148.

It is expected that NEMT and TXX Passengers will remain relatively about the same over the next few years however, even though there has been increases in PRC passengers for the past two years it is expected that PRC Passengers will start to decline again in 2007 as more and more TANF recipients exhaust their life time benefits.

While the demand for TXX trips will remain steady funds available to fund this program continue to dwindle.   Sometime in the near future those elderly passengers who currently have their transportation provided under the TXX contract will have to start paying for their own trips.   At that time it is fair to anticipate that there will be a significant down turn in ridership as many of the elderly on fixed income will not be able to afford to travel on the bus. 

In order to help lessen the current and future financial burden on our elderly passengers we have aggressively attempted to get them to make application for our Elderly and Disabled Reduced Fare.</