ATLANTA — Pembroke’s country charm lured Boston-area native Cindy Milloy to the east Georgia city of about 2,300 people, and kept her there even after a muscular disease left her housebound in a region so rural it lacks a regular taxi service.
“For doctors’ appointments and stuff I have to rely on Medicaid transportation, but other than that, I’m stuck,” said Milloy, 53. Recently, however, she began using a government-supported bus service that lets her call and arrange a ride.
Federal officials are pouring more matching grant funds into these call-and-ride bus services designed to help Georgia’s 1.8 million rural residents, but cash-strapped counties are having trouble kicking in their portion.
The county budget woes threaten to put the state’s growing rural transit network in park.
There are 112 small transit systems serving some of Georgia’s 1.8 million rural residents as part of the federal 5311 program.
It’s a major convenience for aging and low-income residents in regions where a grocery store may be 30 miles away. Managers say the recession is making riders out of laid off workers who never depended on public transportation before, but now need it for everything from a doctor’s visit to a job interview.
“They may have a car, but they just don’t have the gas money,” said Southwest Georgia Regional Commission director Dan Bollinger, who’s seen ridership go up roughly 15 percent since the recession started.
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