HURON – People’s Transit, a transportation lifeline for individuals of all ages, is on pace to replace two to three vehicles per year in a capital improvement plan to retire the agency’s high mileage buses, the executive director said Tuesday.
“We currently have federal money awarded for a total of six new vehicles, which will upgrade our aging fleet significantly,” Gayle Kludt said.
In an annual report to Beadle County commissioners, she said People’s Transit is auctioning five buses online that have been released by the state. Revenue from those sales will be used as the local match to leverage federal dollars to purchase a new bus.
Kludt said one seven-passenger van has been ordered. The local match is being paid for by the Business Improvement District.
A handicap-accessible van, not ordered as yet, will have the local match paid for by United Way Heartland Region, she said.
Also, two buses have been ordered.
“They are configured to be either 17-passenger or flip three seats up to become 11-passenger, two-wheelchair buses,” Kludt said.
Their cost will be $73,025, with the federal mtach at $58,420 and the local match being $14,605. Kludt said Auto Body Clinic has committed to the local match for one vehicle. The agency is still looking for a local match for the second bus.
“We have received federal grant money for two more buses,” she said. “I am waiting for the state to procure bids on transit vehicles, which would be smaller and more economical.”
Businesses, agencies and others who provide the local match for the vehicles are granted advertising rights on the vehicles. It means their message not only is seen by people in Huron, but in the surrounding small towns People’s Transit serves and a number of major cities in eastern South Dakota where transit drivers regularly transport riders.
Kludt said she prefers to spend revenues locally – for example, People’s Transit transferred its insurance carrier from Pierre to Huron – because of tremendous community support for People’s Transit.
She shared ridership statistics and invited regular transit riders to provide personal testimonials of their experiences with the City Commission about 10 days ago and again for the County Commission on Tuesday.
The buses and vans traveled 244,979 miles in 2018, for an average of 976 miles a day. The 77,994 passengers were elderly, disabled, students and members of the general public. It cost $3.64 per mile to run the transit system, she said.
Drivers used to provide curb to curb service, but now she instructs them to give door to door service. For example, if no one comes to the door when they pull up outside, drivers get out of the vehicle and go up to knock on the door.
“It’s just those things that make it pleasant for the passengers,” Kludt said.
Meanwhile, county commissioners also met with Judy Eden from the Huron Job Service office, who briefed the board on a National Career Readiness Certificate program designed to aid both employees and employers.
According to the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, there is a clear gap between skills of the nation’s workforce and the basic skills needs of employers.
“To reduce the cost of remedial training and lost efficiency, more employers are implementing pre-employment assessments to identify these skills prior to hiring,” department literature reads.
Earning the certificate allows individuals to show prospective employers they possess the basic skills employers are seeking.
Eden said the focus is on three skills: workplace documents, applied math and graphic literacy.
The program doesn’t cost anything to employers, she said.
It would apply to the county, for example, as it looks to hire correctional officers and jailers, office clerks and general positions as well as highway maintenance workers.
She said Job Service personnel have been promoting the program for about the past year. The goal is to make business owners aware of the certification program when individuals who have obtained it apply for a job. Potential employers can also ask job seekers to take the certification test to determine their skill level.
“You can see which applicant would be best for the job you have open,” she said. “It’s just another tool that you have access to.”
The program is offered in both English and Spanish.
Even if individuals have a high school diploma, a General Education Development (GED) credential or a post-secondary degree, the certificate further verifies they can handle tasks that are common and vital in the workplace, the Department of Labor and Regulation said.
Eden said the Job Service personnel have been meeting with employers in Huron and in the small communities in the area.
“There are quite a few places that are utilizing it from small businesses to large businesses,” she said.
