Transit Systems to Merge

Unifour residents will see changes by July '08

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

Catawba Valley officials this week approved a plan consolidating the region's public transportation into one larger system that would cater to residents throughout the Unifour.

Beginning July 1, 2008, Alexander, Burke, Catawba and Caldwell counties and Hickory, Newton and Conover will combine their transit systems to create the Western Piedmont Regional Transportation Authority, said John Tippett, planning director for Western Piedmont Council of Governments.

Current systems will remain in place until next summer, allowing officials to establish representatives from each county and hire a transit director, Tippett said.

The new plan will allow elderly and disabled residents to more easily travel through counties using one network of buses and vans, Tippett said. Planners also hope buses will eventually make regular trips between Hickory and other Unifour cities and will be available to all residents.

Combined, public transit systems in the Unifour make more than 257,000 annual trips.

Piedmont Wagon, the region's only full-fledged public transit system, operates exclusively in Catawba County, running buses in Hickory, Newton and Conover and vans for the elderly and disabled in the rural parts of the county.

Burke, Caldwell and Alexander counties run only the vans for the elderly and disabled and people in rural areas. No public buses or vans run in the county seats of Morganton, Lenoir and Taylorsville.

Services in each of the counties will initially stay the same, Tippett said, but over time could include routes between Hickory and downtown Morganton, Lenoir and Taylorsville.


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