SALISBURY — City government will apply for two grants and move forward with getting software to help improve public transit in Salisbury.

The City Council had previously talked about transit in May while discussing a public transportation master plan. It proposed having different or additional routes, asking municipalities that use the service, such as East Spencer and Spencer, to contribute financially and providing smaller transit vehicles.

Then, at the council’s budget workshop in June, transportation was again brought up, as Transit Director Rodney Harrison said some of the transit vehicles are 15 years old. The council asked questions about ridership and buying vehicles that are environmentally friendly. Council members advocated for transit grants.

The council on Tuesday approved a Public Transportation Program Resolution, which gives permission to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to submit grant applications for federal and state funding.

They also gave Salisbury Transit permission to apply for participation in the first phase of the NC Volkswagen Settlement Program through the North Carolina Division of Air Quality. The first phase of the diesel bus and vehicle programs will be 2018-20, with $24.5 million of the $30.7 million available. The program will replace four 2004 buses with electric Light Transit Vehicles.

Harrison proposed that 100% of the cost to replace the vehicles be reimbursed through the grant, but the council altered the wording to be “up to 100%” with the approval. Councilman Brian Miller said several residents may be interested in investing in electric vehicles and that matching funds may boost the application.

“We have people in the community that are interested in electric vehicles,” Miller said. “Have we reached out to those folks to see if they would be interested in partnering with us in this? Do we have time if not?”

City Manager Lane Bailey said the staff had not but could do so.

Miller said that could make a difference in the success rate of the application.

The council also agreed to open up a bid process for an automatic passenger counting system that gathers information about routes and buses. The APC system will compile statistics on passenger counts, including vehicle max load per month, week or hour; route analytics; the number of passengers per bus stop; and peak vs. nonpeak hours.

Councilwoman Tamara Sheffield asked if the system would move forward the city’s transit plan.

“Having this, will it make it capable to move forward on that transit plan that we’ve already spent money on?” Sheffield said. 

Harrison said the council wanted more information about the city’s transit system and the software can provide that.

“Council wanted more statistics as far as specific to bus stops, how many people get on bus stops, also mentioned vehicle max load,” Harrison said. “They wanted to know at certain times of the day how many people were on the bus during a certain time frame. This software can accomplish those things.”

The council, he said, with the information would then decide on the size of buses, routes to keep and increasing efficiency.

“We can’t make decisions without information,” Mayor Pro Tem David Post said. “We need to figure a way to do it.”

The cost estimate of the APC is $35,709, with the first year cost of $25,410. Harrison told the council that it had not been budgeted for.

Harrison said he would look into funding when the state has a call for software money, but it would depend on timing. He said transit’s budget is tight to provide the $25,410 out of their own fund but is willing to work with finance to close the funding gap.