Transportation survey invites input

County explores bus need

Rapid growth reflects DeSoto County’s high quality of life, good schools, expanding local employment market and proximity to jobs in the Memphis urban area, planners say.

It also presents challenges — with a major one the feasibility of public transportation: buses, vans or shuttles that could carry riders to work, shopping or recreation across the county or to and from Memphis.

The county is exploring that issue in a survey and needs the public’s views, says Supervisor Lee Caldwell of Nesbit.

“It’s real important that we participate in and take this survey,” she said.

“Is there a need for public transportation in DeSoto County?” said Caldwell. “If so, what kind of transportation are we talking about and where would it be?”

These are all questions, she said, that are being asked in the survey sponsored by the Memphis Metropolitan Planning Organization and Memphis Area Transportation Authority.

The MPO is a regional, multijurisdictional agency responsible for planning and programming long-range transportation facilities in the Memphis Metropolitan Area, of which DeSoto County is a part.

In Hernando, city community development director Shelly Johnstone noted that this is the first year the DeSoto County seat “actually has been placed within the MPO area. And certainly, transportation has a regional per- spective, especially as areas grow and population density increases.

“The big issue remains whether there’s a critical mass, enough people interested in public transit to make it work from a financial perspective,” said Johnstone, noting that past mass-transit feelers in DeSoto have faltered due to lack of support. “People like convenience; that’s why they choose to drive a car over public trans-

portation. But driving or parking a car in an urban area miles away can be expensive and inconvenient. That’s why we need planning and why this survey is vital.”

“I know of quite a few people who park in our city and carpool to jobs in Memphis,” said Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson. “This shows there’s already some need for public transportation. And it’s green-friendly: A bunch of people in one vehicle instead of separate cars is good for the environment.”

The MPO and MATA contracted with Nelson/ Nygaard, San Franciscobased t ransportation planning consultants, to consider the possibilities of developing transit services and work with county stakeholders — residents, land and business owners and operators and officials — and to create a broad vision of public transportation in the county. The transit study compiled a list of survey questions to collect data from stakeholders.

Assessing the appropriateness of service includes evaluating and documenting existing transit needs and determining the type of public transportation service that best meets that need, say transportation officials.

Shirley Wilson, director of the Public Transit Division of the Mississippi Department of Transpor- tation, said DeSoto County already has several programs that provide limited or special-needs public transportation such as North Mississippi Rehabilitation, North Delta Transportation services and Dial a Ride. By forming a Regional Transportation Coordination Group, these and other groups could pool resources and be able to reach more people, she said. Delta Rides and SMART (Southwest Mississippi Accessible Regional Transportation) are two such coordination groups.

Said Caldwell: “By understanding and documenting demand and matching it to different service types, it’s possible to estimate costs and benefits associated with different actions.”

So, if a need is there but not large enough to start out with big MATA buses, she said, “we might need to look into shuttle buses or vans. The results of the survey will be the guide to addressing our transit needs.”

The survey is posted on the DeSoto website, desotocountyms.gov, and on its Facebook page.

“This survey is to be used as the voice of DeSoto County,” Caldwell said.

Johnstone said she was planning to take the survey herself, and her boss, Mayor Johnson, added: “Government should be responsive to citizens, and a survey is a good way to know what the people want.”