Two brand new vans are on the road for the North Oakland Transportation Authority thanks to Addison Township and the good folks at the Oxford-based Training and Treatment Innovations and the Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority.
NOTA is the proud owner of two 2004 GMAC Savannah vans. Each van can transport 15 passengers and cost $21,375, none which are local tax dollars, according to NOTA’s Interim Director Pat Fitchena, who also serves as an Oxford Township trustee.
NOTA provides free public transportation to senior citizens, mentally and physically handicapped individuals and welfare-to-work recipients living in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships.
Addison Township paid 100 percent of the cost for one van with unused Community Development Block Grant money allocated to the municipality.
‘In lieu of their regular contribution to NOTA, (Addison) donated its CDBG money so we could purchase one of the new vans,? Fitchena said.
The other van was purchased using part of a $150,000 contribution from TTI/CMHA.
Oakland County’s CMHA supports the advancement of social equity and improved quality of life for adults with serious mental illness and people with developmental disabilities. It contracts with TTI, who in turn provides a comprehensive set of services and supports to help these adults, one of which is the Clubhouse Inspiration facility located in the Oxford Mills shopping center.
Because TTI started conducting evening hours at Clubhouse Inspiration on Thursdays, NOTA expanded its coverage to include 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays.
‘We suggested we could take their clients to Concerts in the (Centennial) Park or go shopping,? Fitchena said. ‘But we couldn’t just expand the hours for TTI, we had to open it up to the public too. So if anybody else wants to go to Concerts in the (Centennial) Park, shopping or go to restaurants, they can.?
The only difference is during the Thursday evening hours NOTA’s vehicles will only travel within the borders of the three townships.
Normally, during the daytime hours (6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday), NOTA can take passengers 15 miles beyond the three townships? borders.
NOTA has also added Saturday hours (8 a.m. to 1 p.m.) to its operations. As always, NOTA will continue to provide rides to and from church services on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Fitchena said the addition of two new vans made the expanded service hours possible.
They also helped take some of the stress off the older vans, one or two of which are due for retirement soon, according to Fitchena. Some of the older vans can’t travel as far and are only be used for short trips in town, she said.
More vans means more time and less vehicle shortages on the road when older vans go in for repairs.
Fitchena said ‘hopefully? another new van will be acquired by NOTA in the ‘next couple of months.?
Once that happens, NOTA’s oldest van, which has about 170,000 miles on it and was referred to by Fitchena as ‘the silver bullet,? can be retired from service.
‘You have to plan for the future,? she said. ‘You have to rotate vehicles. You have to retire the older ones.?
Fitchena said NOTA’s vehicle addition/replacement efforts have been aided greatly by the federal grant money which U.S. Congressmen Joe Knollenberg and Mike Rogers have worked hard to secure for the program.
NOTA received has previously received a $249,450 from the federal government and is set to receive a $148,689 grant within the next two months.
Fitchena said it was the coming grant money that helped NOTA make its decision to purchase the new vans. ‘We would have never had this kind of money in our (operating) budget to be flexible enough to purchase two brand new vehicles at one time,? she said.
As for NOTA’s future, Fitchena said ridership ‘has done nothing but escalate.? NOTA gave 1,953 rides in May and 5,698 for the first quarter of 2004.
‘At the end of the year, we expect to be over 20,000 rides,? she said.