SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Ozark Regional Transit officials need more funding and are hoping they can get that through a dedicated sales tax that would help expand the transit. They currently gets federal, state and local funding.
Every year the transit goes in front of each city council and quorum court to ask for continued or more funding. Executive Director, Joel Gardner says some years they receive less than previous years, so this is why the board wants to get an independent funding source. He says they plan on asking the four major cities to put a quarter of a cent sales tax on the ballot in the future. He says they are at 100% capacity of their vehicle usage right now of 29 vehicles. A ballot measure similar to this failed more than a decade ago but Gardner thinks this time it will be successful because they have an effective plan in place including getting more buses.
“It is getting more operators it is putting more routes out on the road. It is putting more frequency out on the road. It's creating a true transit network in Northwest Arkansas, with everything from density areas to some of the more rural areas, also connecting the two counties more frequently,” said Joel Gardner.
Ozark Regional Transit has a little more than a thousand riders a day. There is no timeline right now for when voters could see the measure on the ballot.
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