Public transportation on agenda for input

A public transportation system in Hardin County has been considered a pipe dream for years, but the Radcliff-Elizabethtown Metropolitan Planning Organization is looking for insight on how to make such a system a realistic option.

The organization is hosting a public transportation system implementation study forum at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, in the boardroom of the Lincoln Trail Area Development District on College Street Road in Elizabethtown.

Mike Skaggs, a transportation planner, said the organization has targeted specific businesses, community leaders and local governments they know hold a shared interest in a public transportation system, but the meeting is open to the public.

Skaggs said the goal is to gain feedback and suggestions on how public transportation could be implemented in the areas of Elizabethtown, Radcliff, Vine Grove and Fort Knox.

The study was commissioned by the planning organization to determine routes, what stops should be set along the route,  costs involved in launching a system and how to pay for it.

Officials said financing is the primary question mark — and largest obstacle — facing a public transportation system.

Skaggs said the study rolled out in August after the organization partnered with a Louisville consulting firm, and now is collecting information. Ideas gleaned from the December meeting will assist in the data-gathering process, Skaggs said.

The implementation study follows a feasibility study in 2005, which indicated a public transportation system is possible here, Skaggs said.

“It’s just part of the next logical step in that,” he said.

Public transportation has been a hot topic in Radcliff in recent years as residents have pushed for public accommodations.

The city purchased a used trolley it uses in community events and Mayor J.J. Duvall said he eventually would like to implement a public transportation system.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762 or mfinley@thenewsenterprise.com.