Changes planned for Wahkiakum on the Move

Changes are in store for Wahkiakum on the Move, Wahkiakum County's public transportation system.

System managers said Tuesday they are planning to expand their schedule and that they're going to start charging ridership fees, effective August 1.

The news came Tuesday as the county board of commissioners signed a new contract with the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) that will increase funding for the program.

In other business Tuesday, the board heard project funding requests from Diking District No. 1 of Puget Island.

Bob Stillings, Wahkiakum on the Move director, and Chris Holmes, Human Services director, said WSDOT had approved $375,000 in funding for the next two years of bus service, down from the county's request of $504,000 but up from the previous biennium's $341,000.

With $55,942 in reserves coming from revenue from contracts for rides for Medicaid patients and the Reserve a Ride program, the county will have $430,942 in revenue for the program.

"So this is an expansion for us," Holmes said.

The program will change and expand its schedule to meet needs and desires which riders identified in a recent survey, Stillings said.

Ridership has increased steadily over the five years of the program and now totals about 3,000 riders per quarter, or around 12,000 per year. By using transfers, riders can go to Naselle and connect with Pacific County's transit, and they can go to Longview and Kelso and connect with bus lines that can take them to Portland or Seattle.

The program has been running a full schedule on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and partial schedules on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Stillings is proposing a new schedule that will also have a full schedule on Tuesdays.

In the survey riders were asked to list reasons for using the bus. Reasons were to go to work 39 percent; medical trips 35 percent; shopping 31 percent; social trips 14 percent; school 12 percent, and other, 29 percent. Percentages total over 100 because riders could list more than one reason.

Wahkiakum on the Move hasn't had a fee schedule; riders have been asked to make a donation. In the survey, they said they would be willing to pay fares, and 65 percent said they thought $1 per trip would be acceptable.

Stillings said he is proposing a fare of $1 for long trips and no fare for short trips.

When asked to rate their satisfaction, riders rated the service highly.

Holmes said they've had only one major complaint: Recently three pre-teens rode to Longview to play in a baseball game. A parent of one objected, saying the boy made the trip without approval.

Holmes explained that under its grant funding rules, the service can't discriminate. However, they are working on a process in which parents may identify children they don't want riding the bus out of town.

Stillings said he planned to publicize the new schedule and fare in July, and commissioners suggested making them effective August 1.

In other business, Bill Faubion, acting as attorney for the board of commissioners of Consolidated Diking District No. 1 of Wahkiakum County, asked if the commissioners would participate in two projects.

First, the district wants to contract for an areial survey of the island. The survey would identify where the district's ditches lie, and the county could also use its offices.

The cost for the flights and work to mapping would be about $24,000, Faubion said. Commissioners discussed the issue and agreed the county could pay up to $12,500 as a share of the project.

Next, Faubion asked if the county could allocate funds from the Cumulative Reserve for Flood Control for helping the district dredge Grove's Slough. The cost is estimated at $200,000, and Bonneville Power Administration has granted $45,000 to support the work.

The slough gets plugged from shoaling caused by ship wakes, Faubion said. A tide gate can't function because of siltation, and so the district must use electric pumps for drainage.

Commissioners weren't as receptive to this project.

"I can't deny the benefit, but I can deny the money," said Commissioner Blair Brady. He pointed out that other areas of the county have similar siltation issues, and the Steamboat Slough Dike is eroding.

Commissioner Dan Cothren said he was unhappy with the location of the tide gate in the slough, adding that it doesn't feed directly into the slough's main channel and thus allows siltation.

"We'd put out money that won't solve the problem," he said. "It's only a short term fix."

However, the commission took no action on the request, and Cothren said he would be willing to discuss it again in the future.

Editor's note: Bob Stillings was misidentified in earlier editions of this article.