THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130289
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Tidewater Regional Transit's commissioners have paved the way for the merger of South Hampton Roads' and the Peninsula's public transportation systems, which would create the state's largest public transit agency outside of Northern Virginia.
A non-binding memorandum of intent, unanimously approved by TRT's commissioners on Wednesday, provides the first details of the merger, which could be completed by July.
The new system's headquarters would be based in Norfolk at TRT's current address on Monticello Avenue. Michael S. Townes, currently PENTRAN's executive director, will be named executive director of the merged agency.
TRT's executive director, Jim Echols, will retire, but has delayed his leaving until the proposed merger is completed.
Merger talks began last year, but this is the first concrete proposal of what the combined system will look like.
No new name has been selected for the combined system, Echols said. That will be the responsibility of the combined board of commissioners, which will be called the Hampton Roads Transportation District Commission.
The new commission will encompass the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.
If PENTRAN's commissioners back the agreement as expected on Jan. 25, local city councils will be asked to approve it within the following 45 days.
Regional transportation officials believe that the proposed merger will help the area compete for increasingly scarce federal and state funding. A larger system would have a stronger voice in dealing with local, state and federal governments, TRT and PENTRAN officials explained. The merger, they said, will also help unite the region and promote economic development in South Hampton Roads and on the Peninsula.
TRT, the larger of the two agencies, had a $21.6 million operating budget in 1995 and employs 525 people. PENTRAN employs 315 people with an operating budget of $11.1 million.
Echols said bus riders probably won't notice any change in service until at least a year after the merger is complete. No fare increases are planned and no route changes are scheduled because of the merger.
Echols said the two agencies do not expect a large number of jobs will be cut because of the merger. Some positions will have to be combined, such as those in accounting and payroll. Details, however, have yet to be worked out.
KEYWORDS: MERGER REGIONALISM PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION by CNB