Those who live along or have business on Popp’s Ferry Road will have a new mode of transportation next week when Coast Transit and the city launch a new bus route, with continuous service from Pass and Popp’s Ferry roads to Motsie Road, east of Cedar Lake Road.
The new route will begin running on Monday, Dec. 18 and will operate on 45 minute intervals Monday through Saturday from 6:47 a.m. to 6:37 p.m.
Route 32, as it is called, will include stops such as the Margaret Sherry Library, Bellmont Garden Apartments, Virginia College, Cedar Lake Medical offices, Santa Maria del Mar, and the Walmart Neighborhood Market.
You can hear more about it during “Coffee Talk,” a gathering that takes place at Santa Maria Del Mar on Monday at 9 a.m. Ward 6 Councilman Kenny Glavan, who has pushed for the route since being elected several years ago, will update residents on issues, and CTA Executive Director Kevin Coggin will discuss the benefits of the new route. CTA will offer free coffee and donuts at the event, and those attending will be able to board a bus at 10 a.m. to view the route.
“The City Council has agreed to fund this route for six months,” Glavan said, “and I’m excited to see the impact that it could have. You have a number of apartment complexes along the route, there’s also Santa Maria, and Virginia College has already said it’s going to be great for their students. You should also remember the other benefits: At Pass Road, you can transfer from this route to Edgewater Mall or points beyond east or west, and this route also means that those with disabilities now have additional service.”
ADA Paratransit Service, a curb-to-curb service, provides any person covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act a way to get around the city and is $2 per fare zone. To qualify for the service, individuals have to meet one of the three qualifications:
– Prevented from getting on, off or riding any handicapped-accessible bus by oneself because of a physical or mental impairment, and needs help from someone besides a wheelchair lift operator
– Need a wheelchair lift or other boarding assistance device and can, with help, board, ride and disembark the bus. ADA Paratransit is only justified under this category if, for some reason, a boarding device cannot be used at the individual’s regular CTA Fixed Route stop
– Specific impairment-related condition that makes traveling to or from a bus stop impossible.
Once a qualification is identified, an application for certification should be completed at the CTA office in Gulfport or on the CTA website.
An appointment is needed to ride the ADA Paratransit which is available within three-fourths of a mile on either side of the CTA’s fixed route system. Other limitations are included.
Said CTA Director Coggin: “This is just another way CTA keeps the Gulf Coast rolling.”
Visit the Coast Transit Authority’s website
See more about the ADA Paratransit service
See the Route 32 map
News and notes: Lighthouse Parking lot, City Council and special needs dance
Road closure: The southern most lane, only, of U.S. 90 in the area directly south of the Biloxi Visitors Center will be closed for most of the day on Wednesday so that contractors can install curbing at the northern part of the Lighthouse Parking lot.
City Council meeting:Members of the City meet today for a regular meeting at Biloxi City Hall which included a public hearing on the City’s Urban Renewal Plan and West Biloxi Commercial Redevelopment Project at the former Wal-Mart site. To see images from the meeting, click here.
Special Need dance: The Parks & Recreation Department will hold its annual Special Needs Christmas Dance on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Donal M. Snyder Community Center, 2520 Pass Road. Admission is one unwrapped gift no more than $10. To see the flyer, click here.
