Breaking ground on a new JCATS facility Feb. 2 were (not in order) District 76 Rep. Donna White, Johnston County Board of Commissioners chair Butch Lawter, North Carolina Department of Transportation District 4 engineer Kevin Bowen, Selma Mayor Byron McAllister, North Carolina Transportation Association executive director David Rhew, Triangle East Chamber of Commerce executive board chair Mark McDonnell, Stephenson General Contractors president Durwood Stephenson, Bobbitt Design Build project executive Neal Conley, Community and Senior Services of Johnston County board vice-chair and Transportation Advisory Board chair Steve Strickland, Neal Davis, executive director of Community and Senior Services of Johnston County Inc. and CSS board chair Jimmy Parker.
JCATS breaks ground on expanded facility By MIKE BOLLINGER
SELMA — Johnston County is the fastest-growing county in North Carolina, and with that growth comes the need for expanded public transportation services. A groundbreaking ceremony held Feb. 2 will allow the Johnston County Area Transit System to expand its facilities, and the intent is to expand services as well. “Public transportation will be a bigger part of what we have to provide,” said Johnston County Board of Commissioners chair Butch Lawter. “People need transportation to get to their jobs.” Neal Conley, project executive with Bobbitt Design Build of Raleigh, the firm handling the construction, said the anticipated completion date for the new facility is October. Lawter said a transportation study will be conducted in the near future. “As we grow, JCATS will be a part of that growing process to provide truly public transportation. We have a long way to go, but we’ve started on it,” he said. 8 | [ JOHNSTON NOW ]
Neal Davis, executive director of Community and Senior Services of Johnston County Inc., which operates JCATS, said the next step will include more transportation options. “Johnston County has never had a public fixed-route transportation service. Interest is growing all the time,” he said. “We will continue to work to get to where we want to be.” The expansion into the lot next to the present JCATS facility at 1050 West Noble St. in Selma will allow JCATS to double its fleet, Davis said. At present, the service has 32 vehicles and more than 30 employees. He said the new building will allow for in-house employee training as well. “We’re required to do a lot of training,” Davis said. When there is the threat of inclement weather, JCATS likes to have drivers meet in the mornings for briefings on what situations could arise, and the new facility will provide more room for those briefings. In addition, Davis said, 12 passengers per day are transferred from one vehicle to another in the JCATS parking lot.
Johnston County Board of Commissioners chair Butch Lawter spoke during the groundbreaking for a new JCATS facility.
