By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Stuart Hoff just won't give up.

Though his attempt to set up a viable bus service in Fayette County hasn't worked out too well so far, Hoff is still knocking on doors and putting together plans in hopes of having a measurable impact on local traffic, he says.

“I want to create the most inexpensive, thorough and complete transportation program possible for Fayette County,” Hoff said this week as he made plans to once again launch a shuttle service for Delta Air Lines employees through his company, Phoenix Star Transportation Service Inc.

He also is working to set up an employee shuttle for Peachtree City's industrial areas, among other projects.

The Delta shuttle didn't work the first time he tried it, Hoff said, because although front office management had approved the plan, it wasn't coordinated through security. Passengers had to be dropped off too far from where they actually worked. “We had about 65 passengers out of a possible 4,000, so I consider that a complete failure,” said Hoff.

But now the program has been reworked, Delta has e-mailed its workers in the Fayette area, and plans are in place to open the gates and bring the buses closer to the work place, he said.

A boon to the plan has been Delta's decision to subsidize its workers' ticket costs to the tune of $65 a month. Any employer can get a full tax deduction for such a subsidy, he said, due to the federal government's concern about air quality in the Atlanta area.

He also is lowering the price, he said. Delta workers can now ride for $2.50 each way, 10 trips for $25, or about $85 for the average work month, minus the company subsidy. With Delta's subsidy, Hoff said, a worker's cost to get to work and back drops from $5,736 a year to use their cars to $1,380 to ride the bus.

Next on the agenda, Hoff said he is working to establish a park and ride shuttle to downtown for anyone in the county. He has two park and ride locations in Peachtree City and is adding a third, and one in Fayetteville.

The downtown trip is going to be more expensive — $80 for ten one-way trips — but Hoff insists that even at that price many people can save money, not to mention aggravation. And workers should lobby their employers for subsidies, he said. The tax deduction is available to any company. Beyond that, Hoff said he is working on a coordinated, county-wide effort he is calling “operation take charge,” in which the county government would act as conduit for federal funds.

His not for profit Transportation Management Authority would manage the park and ride operation and other services in Fayette, and would coordinate with similar TMA's in Clayton and other counties.

“What everybody would like to see is a coordinated county effort,” he said.

Hoff will ask the county commissioners to accept the federal funding, but first he is lobbying business and nonprofit organizations for support.

He will address the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce's breakfast meeting April 19 in hopes of getting that group's support, and has been talking with the chamber's Government Affairs Committee already. “I want to come up with something that the Chamber of Commerce says is good for Fayette County,” he said.

Hoff also hopes to garner support from the South Metro Human Resources Association.

If all goes well, eventually local people will have an alternative to the current drive-time headaches, he said, adding that employers who subsidize the program will benefit, too.

“If a worker can take a nap on the way to work and on the way home instead of going through the stress of driving a car, that's a more productive worker,” he said.