AccessNorthGa.com put that question to Phillippa Lewis-Moss, director of the Gainesville-Hall County Community Service Center, which oversees the operation of the transit system and it's companion, Dial-A-Ride, which is an on-demand service for a wider area of the community, including the more rural regions.
Moss was asked about the possibiity of links to the Gwinnett bus system and a companion tie-in to MARTA in Atlanta, weekend service, the possibility of ads on buses to help generate revenue, and weekend service.
None, she says, are in the works, right now.
Over the course the past ten years there have been discussions about tying the Red Rabbit into the Gwinnett system by using pick-up/drop-off points in north Gwinnett as transfer points for buses that run into Atlanta where riders can, if they wish, transfer to MARTA buses or trains.
Lewis-Moss says she thinks the idea of having an express route that connects to Gwinnett and the metro Atlanta area is still "very much on the table. But where we are challenged right now and very, very limited is that we are in the middle of a recession."
She says this is not the best time to think about expanding but would not rule out revisiting the idea.
"At this moment, we (are) just looking to maintain the existing services but that doesn't mean that, once again, we shouldn't look at investing in the future but we need to do a great deal of planning before (we do)."
Service has recently been expanded to the Oakwood area, specifically targeting students at Gainesville State College and Lanier Technical College. Lewis-Moss says she expects to continue that service and work closely with both schools to increase ridership.
"As more and more students become comfortable with our goals and how to utilize (the service), we see that ridership is increasing on those routes."
She says the colleges are very happy with the service "and we think we can give it at least another year. We'll reassess the situation in another two months and again in another four months and make a decision as to what to do."
Lewis-Moss says there are no serious thoughts at this time to adding weekend service.
"I think that we really need to focus on our core service which is Monday through Friday...and once we find that ridership increases to an acceptable level where people in our community feel very happy with it, then we could think about extending services even into the late evening hours," she said, "as well as Saturday and Sunday. We get a lot of requests for that."
A few months ago the Gainesville City Council and the Hall County Commission (each contribute to the cost of maintaining the service) were approached about the idea of placing advertisements on the buses as a way of generating additional income.
"Both governments, equally, made a decision that they were not interested in making an investment in advertising (right now)," Lewis-Moss said. "Their biggest concern was that they didn't want the buses to look tacky. (And) there are all sorts of issues that come up with selling ads and there are other communities that have had some legal issues with ads on their buses and the nature of the language of some of the ads."
But she added she doesn't think it's "off the table" and foresees the day when ads will appear on Red Rabbit buses.
Lewis-Moss says if she could have the ears of every person in Hall County and was trying to sell them on using the Red Rabbit, she says she would start by pitching it as a way to make an investment in the community by getting out of the car every now and then which would help reduce air pollution.
"Do it once-a-week or once-a-month...and hop aboard the bus. Give our environment a break and make a contribution to our community in that way."
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the final in a series of three special reports marking the 10th anniversary of the Red Rabbit.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/1/235592