The Nicholasville City Commission recently heard a suggestion from a Jessamine County resident to display bus route signs for NichTran throughout the county for those needing public transportation.

“I think it would benefit a lot of people in Jessamine County,” Marylin Preston said at a recent meeting.

Preston was forced to use public transportation after she had surgery on her shoulder.

Not able to drive to appointments, she was paying a driver from Lexington to come take her where she needed to go around Nicholasville and Jessamine County.

“Marylin called me about this and I did not know we offered a bus service,” City Commissioner Patty Teater said. “I have sense found out we have partnered with Lextran, so I guess my questions are, are we paying Lextran and is that a service we offer to our citizens?”

Preston said the service she used was actually NichTran, a sponsored program of Blue Grass Community Partnership.

“NichTran is not part of Lextran,” Nicholasville Engineer Tim Cross said. “They run what they call a deviated route. If you are in a half mile of the route, they will come to your house and pick you up, but they are not part of Lextran.”

Preston said she wants the commission to consider advertising the routes around Jessamine County so other residents in her position will be able to use the transportation.

Preston said the routes through Jessamine County include stops at places like Walmart and Kroger.

“I can’t drive,” Preston said. “It is kind of crazy I am paying someone from Lexington to come down and take me half a mile when I could have been taking this bus all along.”

A deviation must be scheduled a minimum of 24 hours in advance, according to the NichTran website. The standard ride with NichTran is $2 per person each way. Frequent-rider passes can be purchased for $10, which includes 10 rides.

“Let us do some checking on it and we will get back with you,” Teater said. “It sounds like we should do some marketing on it and let people know.  We will check into it.”

For more information on NichTran visit nichtranroute.org.