MOUNT VERNON — Transit Director Bethany Celmar said that Knox County Transit had a “pretty strong March” with 6,014 trips.
“You know, 6,014 trips is actually really, really strong for the amount of staff that we had. I’ve been out driving myself actually to make some things happen,” she told the county commissioners on Thursday.
“We have had a few drivers that have been on extended leave of absence for different reasons. So, we have been working really hard to make sure that we’re keeping everybody on time and doing as many trips as we can.”
Celmar said the shortage of drivers has led to more denials, even as demand remains the same.
“It’s always hard. We’ve had a couple of calls of people not being able to get to therapy, or cancer treatment and that kind of stuff. We really have a lot of people who depend on us. We are it: We are their number 1 option,” she said.
The agency has posted a part-time position, and Celmar anticipates posting a full-time one as well.
“I think a lot of people don’t understand that at the end of the day, … especially for public transportation, it all comes down to funding,” Commissioner Barry Lester said. “At the end of the day, funding dictates your world.”
Change in fixed flex routes
However, Celmar said only about 1,500 riders used the fixed flex routes.
Previously, drivers could deviate up to 0.5 miles off the route to pick up and discharge riders. That made it difficult for drivers to stay on time.
Now riders must board at a stop, which Celmar said has made it a lot more difficult for people.
“Sixty-five percent of our riders are either disabled or elderly. So, they’re most likely not going to be able to walk to get to a stop,” she said. “We do have some people that are toughing it out, but they are very winded by the time they get to a stop, and they’re having trouble.”
Drivers can still drop riders off anywhere along the route.
Celmar said that while 1,500 riders is still a good turnout, the agency will evaluate other solutions. One possibility is switching to a one-hour loop instead of a half-hour loop.
“The half hour loops seem to be very limiting because you can only have about three to four stops at most and still get across town,” she explained. “If we did one hour, we could have more stops, and we might even be able to eliminate transferring. And then we could run maybe two buses on it, staggered at a half hour.”
Leaving money on the table
Celmar continues to struggle to increase local revenue needed to secure more funds from the Federal Transit Administration.
“The way that the FTA has structured rural transit is that they want to see 50% of your money coming from local sources in some way to match that federal dollar,” she said.
“So we need businesses to step up that are utilizing it.”
Donations, contract revenue, and contributions from the county and city count as local revenue.
“We leave money on the table because we don’t have the local match,” County Administrator Jason Booth said.
Fare revenue counts against the county when it comes to receiving federal money. If riders pay $60,000 in fares, that’s $60,000 less KCT receives from the government.
Celmar said the agency is about $100,000 shy of the amount needed to match federal dollars.
Medical appointments account for 20% of KCT’s riders. However, they are costly if out of the county. They are also unpredictable and difficult to schedule in advance.
“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of grants or funding out there for medical institutions to be funding us,” Celmar said.
A 2024 Knox Community Hospital survey found that 41% of people using KCH services had difficulty accessing transportation.
“In 2025 that went down to 28%. So we took a huge chunk out of that issue, and I would like to be able to keep doing that,” Celmar said.
“We’re doing a lot more than many other counties, but we would love to be able to still meet the need, especially for that access to care.”
Taking care of the fleet
Knox County Transit recently sold five older vehicles, which will help offset the cost of two new ones on order.
On the flip side, Celmar is facing an unexpected need to buy another bus.
In February, a motorist hit an 18-month-old KCT bus that had 45,000 miles on it. The insurance company totaled the vehicle.
Celmar estimates a cost to KCT of around $20,000 after accounting for the insurance payoff and state contribution.
