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From YouTube: Aiken This Week - March 13, 2017 : Transit Study
Description
Lower Savannah Council of Governments is conducting a transit study in Aiken County, the results of which will steer future development of the Best Friend Express bus service and other transportation options in the area.
Guests include:
• Dr. William Molnar, Executive Director of Lower Savannah Council of Goverments
• Joel Rey, Principal and VP and Director of Transportation and Transit Solutions, Tindale Oliver
A
Welcome
to
taking
this
week
I've
been
real
instant.
Today,
our
topic
of
discussion
is
going
to
be
the
transit
development
plan
that
is
being
taken
on
by
lower
Savannah
Council
of
Governments,
and
my
guests
today
are
dr.
William
monarch.
Here
is
the
executive
director
of
the
lower
Savannah
Council
of
Governments
and
Joel
ray,
who
is
the
principal
and
vice
president
of
tyndal
Oliver,
the
company
that
is
going
to
be
helping
a
sister
with
the
plan,
and
your
company,
I
believe,
is
specializes
in
engineering
and
planning
for
transit
kind
of
specializing
in
this
area.
Yes,.
B
A
C
Emory,
the
lower
satanic
Council
of
government
is
one
of
ten
cogs
or
Council
of
Governments
in
the
state
of
South
Carolina.
We
were
started
about
50
years
ago
from
eda
funding
and
that's
part
of
the
Department
of
Commerce
in
the
fed
area.
We
cover
six
counties,
akin
allendale,
barnwell,
bamberg,
orangeburg
and
calhoun,
and
we
administer
programs
who,
like
the
back
room
for
these
local
governments,
a
lot
of
them
don't
have
the
specialties
or
the
personnel
in.
A
C
A
C
Do
we
operate
a
number
of
different
things
and
in
the
transit
area,
is
the
best
friends
Express
we
started
operating
the
best
friend
Express
back
in
2004
took
it
on
from
the
county,
and
we
have
a
fixed
route
system.
That's
the
best
friend
Express.
In
addition
to
that,
we
also
have
a
dialogue
program.
Dial-A-Ride
takes
care
of
those
who
are
elderly
or
disabled,
who
can't
get
to
the
bus.
They
live
without
three-quarters
of
a
mile
on
one
side
or
the
other,
and
so
lower
ceramic
Council
of
Governments
administers
both
those
programs.
A
C
A
C
Since
then,
Aiken
has
changed
significantly,
and
you
know
that
as
well
as
I
do
so.
There
are
lots
of
the
institutions
and
people
in
this
community,
but
the
reality
is
the
transit
system
hasn't
kept
up
with
those
changes,
and
so
we
thought
they'd
be
best
if
we
develop
their,
but
in
somebody
who
really
knew
what
they
were
doing
for
a
smaller
community
like
Aiken
but
needed
those
kinds
of
services
to
develop
a
transportation
development
plan.
C
A
B
Right
well,
the
first
thing
you
need
to
understand
about
a
transit
development
plan.
Is
it
truly
does
set
a
vision
for
the
community
for
its
transportation
services,
transit
and
specific,
and
when
you're
doing
a
plan,
whether
it's
a
five-year,
TDP
or
a
ten-year
TDP,
you
really
want
to
establish
what
does
the
system
aspire
to
become
when
it
when
it
grows
up,
and
so
in
a
TDP?
The
first
thing
you
do:
is
you
look
at
the
community?
How
is
it
growing?
Where
are
things
occurring
that
have
changed
over
time?
B
How
is
the
existing
system
performing
it's
very
investigative
in
nature,
and
so
once
you
establish
kind
of
the
baseline
conditions
of
where
we
are
today,
then
you
start
talking
two
riders.
You
start
talking
two
drivers.
You
start
talking
to
folks,
maybe
who
have
not
yet
used
best
friend
express
but
may
in
some
time
in
the
future
to
find
out
what
would
encourage
them
to
use
it
at
all
and
you
find
out
what
their
needs
are.
B
What's
going
to
encourage
them
to
get
on
the
bus,
either
more
often,
if
they're
a
regular
user
or
to
try
it
out
if
they're
not,
and
then
you
start
establishing
alternatives,
how
can
we
improve
the
service,
whether
that's
longer
hours
of
service
during
the
weekdays
providing
weekend
service
or
greater
frequency?
You
start
laying
out
the
plan
for
that
five
or
10-year
window
and
then
what
it's
going
to
cost
and
where
additional
funding
they
come
in
to
support
that
and
then
the
next
steps
are
implementation.
A
When
you,
so
it
was
very
investigative
in
nature
and
I
know
that
y'all
are
really
wanting
some
citizen
input
that
we
will
talk
about
here
in
just
a
few
minutes,
but
dr.
Mullen
are
just
like
you
were
saying
he
we
haven't
kept
up
with
our
with
with
how
things
have
grown
over
over
time
in
our
area,
and
so
this
is
going
to
look
at
what
we
can
do
most
immediately
and
then
look
towards
the
future
too.
B
And
we've
heard
already
just
with
the
outreach
that
we've
been
able
to
accomplish
to
date.
Aiken
technical
and
the
University
of
South
Carolina
taken
are
both
key
stakeholders
that
are
going
to
be
important
to
the
outcomes
of
this
project.
We
know
about
the
new
dorms
that
are
being
built,
for
example,
a
taken
tech
that
could
create
more
of
an
environment
of
less
commuter
school
and
more
need
for
these
students
to
be
able
to
get
around
the
community
without
having
the
need
for
a
car
sure.
A
C
So
last
month
mom
went
in
dale.
Oliver
was
here.
We
did
a
series
of
stakeholder
meetings
during
the
day
and
number
of
those
stakeholders
were
bridgestone,
the
hospital,
the
universities
and
other
large
employers,
and
they
have
issues
in
making
sure
that
especially
new
hires
can
get
transportation.
They
need
to
get
back
and
forth
to
work
and
especially
when
you
have
a
place
that
has
not
only
a
first
shift
but
a
second
and
a
third
shift.
That's
really
important.
C
A
Sure
because
I
mean
especially,
is
again
right
now,
our
initial.
What
can
we
do
now
and
then
looking
towards
our
future
and
it's
wonderful
that
you've
had
that
type
of
info
I
know?
That's
that's
been
important
to
lower
Savannah
as
well
as
Tyndall
Oliver,
and
putting
this
together
is
that
there
is
outreach.
There
are
we're
talking
to
everybody
that
we
possibly
can
to
get
the
input
for
what
is
needed
now
and
what
what
is
needed
in
the
future.
So,
let's
talk
a
little
bit
about
how
people
can
get
involved
with
this
plan,
all
right.
B
C
To
let
you
know
Emory,
that
with
these
public
meetings,
all
of
these
meetings
are
on
our
best
friend
express
bus
lines,
and
so
that
anybody
who
would
like
to
be
able
to
go
who
uses
a
system
can
automatically
go.
Also,
the
timing
of
these
meetings
are
perfect
so
that
somebody
can
take
the
bus,
get
to
say.
Aiken
tech
go
to
the
meeting
and
then
hop
back
on
the
bus
and
go
back
home
or
wherever
they
need
to
go.
That.
A
Is
very
thoughtful
that
was
some
very
thoughtful
planning
on
your
part
to
make
sure
that
that
could
happen
and
it'll
be
a
very
laid
out
meeting,
knowing
that
we
have
to
meet
a
schedule
to
make
sure
that
sites
can
get
back
on
the
bus
and
get
back
to
their
location.
So
this
is
a
really
important
study
for
our
community.
A
C
We've
been
helped
incredibly
by
the
different
organizations
here
in
Aitkin
County,
so
that
chamber
of
commerce,
the
economic
development
folks,
the
city
itself,
as
well
as
a
sea
of
North,
Augusta
and
other
organizations,
have
been
part
of
these
meetings
and
will
continue
to
be
reaching
out
to
the
citizens.
Who,
like
you
say,
actually
use
the
system
are
those
who
are
interested
in
the
system.
Absolutely.
A
Well,
gentlemen,
is
were
wrapping
up
today.
Is
there
anything
that
that
we
haven't
touched
on
unjust?
This
is
the
topic
that
we
really
could
talk
about
for
probably
an
hour,
and
we
have
really
condensed
it
there.
Is
there
any
point
that
y'all
either?
One
of
you
would
like
to
make
before
we
wrap
up
today.
Well,.
B
B
A
Gentlemen,
I
think
you
guys
for
being
here
and
taking
a
few
minutes
to
share
this
very
important
study
for
our
area
and
we
look
forward
to
seeing
what
the
results
will
bring
and
better
transit
opportunities
in
our
community.
So
we're
going
to
encourage
each
and
every
one
of
you
to
participate
on
the
online
survey
as
well
as
attend
one
of
the
open
houses
that
will
be
hosted
this
month
in
March.
Please
take
advantage
of
this
and
we
thank
you
for
joining
us
for
Aiken
this
weekend
with
the
unit.