January 30, 1997|By Dana Hedgpeth | Dana Hedgpeth,SUN STAFF
Officials of the Howard Area Transit Service (HATS) say they may consider adding two stops to the bus route planned for the western end of the county from Lisbon to The Mall in Columbia.
Residents at a public meeting Tuesday at the George Howard Building in Ellicott City suggested that HATS, which is proposing the service, make a stop at the Howard County Senior Center on Route 97 in Glenwood and at Ellicott Enterprises on Homewood Road, a day care facility for people with developmental disabilities.
The HATS West bus service, which is to begin in March, will have at least 18 stops. The original proposal was to have the service begin at the Lisbon Volunteer Fire Department, but residents' concerns over the availability of parking spaces persuaded HATS officials change the location to the Lisbon Shopping Center on Route 94.
The service will operate for a year on a trial basis using a nine-passenger minibus and will be able to accommodate nonscheduled stops within a 3/4 -mile radius of the planned stops, said Cheryl Mooty, a rural transportation planner for HATS. The $29,000 project will be funded by the state's Mass Transit Administration.
The bus route will be modified and resubmitted to the Public Transportation Board within the coming weeks, before going to the Maryland Public Service Commission for a final decision in February.
Pub Date: 1/30/97
