By Rhys Baker

Clay County General Public Transportation (CCGPT) is starting a pilot program of “Safe Rides” in Clay Center on Friday, continuing through the month of December. CCGPT Operations Manager Don Wright says the pilot program was created following several conversations with Clay County residents, “There were just people around town asking ‘What do we do in the evenings?’ and ‘Do we have anything available for later in the evening if people have been out at the restaurants or the clubs and we don’t have anything?’ So we got a pilot program together to see if it works, and if it does, we can make it into a full-time program here.”

When working in partnership with the Kansas Department of Transportation to create the pilot, Clay County General Public Transportation needed to choose a service area and specific times. Wright explains, “It is a pilot, so we took the largest population density, Clay Center in Clay County, and decided to run the pilot here to see how it works and if there is a need. If it does show a demand, we can expand it to a county-wide service.”

In addition to Clay County General Public Transportation’s regular hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Safe Ride Service will be offered on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. The service may adjust its hours based on customer calls. Rides can be initiated by contacting Clay County General Public Transportation’s dispatch at (785) 632-2447.