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UPDATE: Macon Transit forced to stop operation

The end to the service is due to a lack of funds.

UPDATE: Saturday, 12 p.m.

According to the Craig Ross, the President and CEO of the Macon-Bibb County Transit Authority, the transit will continue to operate through July 7, whether commission is able to give the organization new funding or not.

The buses will run on a reserve capacity, which will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. There will be no service on Wednesday, July 4 due to Independence Day.

If you plan to take the bus next week, here's what you need to know:

  • All buses will leave at 5:20 a.m. as usual
  • By 10:30 a.m. each day, some buses will be taken off the line
  • Routes that typically have two buses on them including Bellevue, west Macon, east Macon, Houston Avenue and Ocmulgee will be dropped down to one bus. The Macon mall route, which typically has three buses on it, will be dropped down to two.
  • Riders with specific questions about when a bus is going to arrive at a specific stop can call the transit authority at 478-803-2500 and ask for the transfer center

If the commissioners approve the funding motion approved at the finance committee on Friday at Tuesday's full meeting, Ross says "there will be smiles" on every face at the transit authority.

They would get a federal match on those funds and the transit authority would be able to continue to run.

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The Macon-Bibb Transit authority says they're ending services after 5:00 p.m. on Saturday due to lack of funds.

The budget passed by Bibb County Commissioners Thursday took out all funding for the county's transit service.

The transit authority says that leaves several thousand riders a day without rides to work, doctor's appointments, or other needed stops.

Brandy Nipper rides the bus every day. She depends on it to take her to her doctor's appointments. She says Bibb County deciding to stop funding for public transportation changes a lot for her.

"This completely ceased my life, and I will be thinking about trying to move where there is a bus system," says Nipper.

Macon Transit says this is a huge economic impact for people and businesses...

They also say around 70 dialysis patients a day depend on their paratransit buses to take them to treatment.

Brandy Nipper relies on the transit to take her to doctor's appointments and pick up prescriptions.

She says she isn't the only one devastated.

"I know so many people that's all their transportation is. Not everyone can afford a car and the insurance and the upkeep on that," she said. "It's been a blessing, really, to have the bus system to be provided."

Macon Transit received around $1.2 million in funding from the county before cuts were made in the budget.

Macon Transit says the county owes them over $400,000 from previous years' budgets. Now, they are demanding by Georgia law that they receive that money.

Craig Ross of the authority says they will run paratransit rides next week for dialysis patients, but not for other medical purposes such as doctor's appointments.

He said, “We’re not going to let someone die because they can’t get a ride.”

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