Public Transportation recommended by Industrial Authority's Community Assessment

Perusing the Community Assessment for Lowndes County sponsored by Georgia Power and prepared by Janus Economics for the Industrial Authority, I noticed on page 28 under Recommendations:

There is a plan for a public transportation system in Valdosta-Lowndes County but it currently lacks funding for implementation. Under current budget constraints it will be difficult to implement such a project, but businesses in the industrial parks and outlying areas may want to implement a limited transportation system if they discover that employee attendance is an issue.

Also on page 9 of the corresponding presentation slides under Product Recommendations:

SUPPORT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

• Emerged as a topic of concern during focus groups
• Directly impacts industry recruitment and workforce

Hm, employees may want a way to get to work! Maybe the community, including the city and county elected governments, should put more priority on a bus system. T-SPLOST is not a very good way to do it, but there may be others.

Congratulations to Georgia Power and the Industrial Authority for conducting this study and putting it online where everyone can see it! Although next time it might be good to be a bit more inclusive of input from the community.

-jsq