Officials Consider Transit System Merger

By Paul B. Johnson, High Point Enterprise, N.C.

Oct. 11–TRIAD — Informal talks taking place now could lead to a major transportation change in the Triad: the merger of three city transit systems.

The talks involve merging the transit systems of High Point, Greensboro and Winston-Salem under one entity.

“We’ve had a lot of discussion at different levels,” said Brent McKinney, executive director of PART. “We hope to get something (formal) under way before the end of the year.”

PART is the Triad’s transportation agency, the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation.

McKinney said Monday that he would like to see representatives from the three city transit systems, PART and the N.C. Department of Transportation begin formal talks to examine the feasibility of a merger, including how it would affect finances and operation of buses and other mass transit.

High Point Mayor Becky Smothers said the possible merger of the systems has come up in long-range transportation planning discussions.

Even if the talks don’t lead to a merger, they could result in more integration of services among the transit systems, said Smothers, a member of the PART board of trustees.

“I think you always need to be open to look at how these systems would be integrated,” she said. “We do know that regional transportation is the future, and it will take a pretty expanded bus service to make that work.”

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