Shop and shuttle bus service now running in Brilliant

BRILLIANT — The Town of Brilliant has partnered with NACOLG to help furnish a bus service to help people reach destinations in Brilliant and Winfield.
The Shop and Shuttle Bus Service, which began April 10 and will run every other Friday, runs to destinations including the Dollar General in Brilliant, as well as multiple grocery stores and pharmacies in Winfield, starting at 1 p.m.
Riders need to call in by Thursdays to ride the following Fridays, and riders need to report ahead of time if they need a handicap bus.
Passengers will need to be able to load and unload their own packages.
“My council and I are all about helping the citizens of Brilliant, and we’re glad this is something we could do,” said Brilliant Mayor Perry Franks.
The cost to ride will be $.50 each way for Brilliant Housing Authority residents, but according to NACOLG,

the cost could be as high as a few dollars for non-housing authority residents based on how far they are traveling.
NACOLG’s Shop and Shuttle Bus Service operates as a partnership between NACOLG and cities, where NACOLG furnishes the bus and driver, and the city reimburses them with set hourly and per-mile rates for the driver.
Anyone who has questions, is looking for more information, or would like to book a ride, can call NACOLG at 256-314-0047.

Winfield
considering bus service
The City of Winfield discussed the possibility of partnering with NACOLG during its regular meeting on Tuesday, April 7.
For Winfield, the contract agreement would have been that the city would pay $12.82 per hour and a little over $1 per mile to reimburse NACOLG for the bus and driver.
Winfield Senior Citizen Meal Site Manager and Facility Supervisor Susan O’Mary discussed the details with the council during the meeting, and has had experience driving for similar services in the past. She said driving this type of route usually doesn’t take that long on the days it runs.
O’Mary and the council then discussed the possibility of utilizing the city’s existing bus that it already uses for its senior programs, since it is already insured, and they already have a driver and a substitute driver, which would prevent that position from going over its set hours if routes were scheduled properly between them according to Park Director Gina Bryant.  
O’Mary and the council also agreed certain stipulations would need to be put in place for who would be eligible to ride, such as age requirements, how far the bus could travel, what to charge passengers (if at all) and more.
Winfield Mayor Randy Price suggested coming up with a plan for such rules to revisit later before making a decision.