Though the demand/response for city buses has increased eight percent over the year, and the increase in fixed route traffic was barely measurable, Jo Harris with Port Arthur Transit believes they will only see more riders with fuel prices increasing.

So an announcement from the Texas Department of Transportation, Tx DOT, that more than $1 million is coming to the Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange areas for transit services is timely.

A press release read the funds are aimed at helping those small urban and non-urbanized systems with fuel costs and other rural expenses. Beaumont will receive $370,668 while Port Arthur will receive $344,167. Statewide, transportation officials approved awards totaling $36.4 million.

Port Arthur City Manager Stephen Fitzgibbons said they receive the transportation grant every year and use it to buy and operate buses. Rebecca Underhill, director of finances, said the 2007 grant the city received was $317,000. The city purchased propane buses last year and won’t need any more for this year.

South East Texas Regional Planning Commission Transportation Director Bob Dickinson said they operate shuttle buses for disabled residents and residents over 60 for trips to the doctor’s office, shopping, etc. in Orange County, Hardin County and western Jefferson County on a demand-response basis.

He called the TxDOT grant a “tremendous asset.”

“I applaud TxDOT for being proactive and allocating resources,” Dickinson said. “Texas is a big state, it’s like a country. I would never thought two years ago it (fuel prices) would be where they’re at now.”

In another TxDOT announcement, Howard Holland was appointed as the new deputy district engineer for TxDOT’s Beaumont district. He will be responsible for assisting in the oversight of all transportation related projects in the eight county district.

“Southeast Texas is seeing incredible economic growth and development,” Holland said. “It’s a real privilege to be able to help design and maintain the highway system that will help this economic growth reach its full potential.”

Holland is a 1977 graduate from Texas A&M University. He began his TxDOT career in 1992 in the Austin Bridge Division. He was promoted to director of operations for the Brownwood district where he oversaw maintenance and traffic operations.