By Brenda Starkey
Chronicle Staff

     REPUBLIC - Two ongoing studies could lead to public transportation in Ferry County, county commissioners learned May 18.
     Okanogan County is exploring a public transportation system and has included the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Tonasket-to-Republic corridor in its study, state Department of Transportation worker Tom Hanson told commissioners.
     In a separate move, the Northeast Washington Regional Transportation Planning Organization has requested funding from DOT to conduct a similar public transportation study in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, Hanson said.
     Discussions of creating an Okanogan County public transportation program began last summer. A public transportation improvement conference has been convened and a study is under way, he said.
     The tribe requested the entire reservation be included in the study and the area between Tonasket and Republic was identified as a potential service corridor, he said.
     Discussion has been ongoing for several months in the Northeast Washington Regional Transportation Planning Organization policy board, but no formal action has been taken to convene a public transportation improvement conference, he said.
     DOT and the transportation planning organization are working to provide information to all elected officials in the three-county area to see if there is interest in having a study and its extent, he said.
     Once all elected officials have been informed there can be a decision on whether to proceed, he said.
     Ferry County is served by Rural Resources Community Action Dial-a-Ride, which runs a four-day-a-week bus between Curlew and Republic. It also offers service between Republic and Kettle Falls and Colville, according to information presented by Kelly J. Scalf, division director for Planning, Development and Transit Services for Rural Resources.
     The Republic-to-Curlew service runs from 8:30-10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, she said.
     In 2008, there were 2,380 trips totaling 11,380 miles, statistics show.
     The service cost $88,800 for repair and maintenance of vehicles, $21,162 in reimbursement to volunteers for 38,500 miles traveled and $67,638 for cost of an agency vehicle and driver, statistics show.
     Passengers are 66 percent disabled, 62 percent female and 48 percent aged 55 or older, according to statistics.
     Fifty-seven percent of riders make up to 100 percent of the federal poverty rate while 25 percent of them have incomes up to 50 percent of the poverty rate.
     Typically, the rider pays part, but not the full cost of the ride, Scalf said, adding that charges generally are about 10 percent of the cost.
     In 2008, the program cost $5.94 per mile, statistics show.
     If the transportation planning organization gets funding for the feasibility study, it will find out what type of people would use the service and what routes would be most popular, Scalf told the commissioners.
     The plan might include various fare zones and park-and-ride areas, she said.
     She said the routes are only part of the picture since bus stops and park-and-ride facilities also would be considered.
     The study will look at things such as whether there are paths where people can walk to a covered, heated bus stop, even in winter, she said.
     "The study will determine what can be done. Then we'll look at the money and see what we can afford and what we can't do," she said.