The future of the Freeborn County Connection, the public transportation service for the county, looks shaky at best.

Senior Resources, which currently runs the service in the county, has not yet decided if it will renew its contract with the state, according to Doris Hagen, transportation coordinator for Senior Resources.

According to Hagen, the routes weren’t making the revenue they needed.

Sixty percent of the $78,000 operating cost for the service is funded by a state grant, and the rest is covered by the city and fare revenues. The city’s share this year is about $17,000.

Hagen said that the lack of revenue, as well as the lack of funding from other government entities such as the county, made operating funds tight.

Senior Resources bought one new bus this past year and they also added a dial-a-ride route system. Hagen said these two changes raised maintenance fees and made ridership more inconsistent with the new system.

&uot;There were some unforeseen expenses,&uot; she said.

Hagen hopes that people who use the service will push for more local funding for public transportation.

&uot;We need to advocate for it,&uot; she said. &uot;Most cities have a lot of local government support. We need that here.&uot;

The Senior Resources board will meet in mid-August to vote on whether to renew their contract with the state to keep running the transportation system. If they vote not to renew the contract, the Freeborn County Connection will stop running starting Jan. 1 of next year, unless another group takes the contract.

Hagen did say that other groups have shown &uot;a strong interest&uot; in taking the busing service over, but would not disclose the names of the groups.

She was optimistic about the future of the service.

&uot;There will be public transportation,&uot; she said. &uot;Someone else might run it, though.&uot;

(Contact Peter Cox at peter.cox @albertleatribune.com or 379-3439.)