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WestCAT Public Transportation Up and Running in Clark County

A new Clark County public transit system was launched on Monday. The new bus service will allow riders from remote parts of the county as well as the city, to connect to destinations all over the Miami Valley area.

WestCAT is the name of the new bus service and its buses began to roll on Monday. Bus routes will run Monday through Friday from western parts of Clark County which includes New Carlisle, Enon and Mad River Township.

New Carlisle City Manager Kim Jones says that the bus system is now connected with Greene County's GreenCats bus system so riders can have access to places like Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Wright State, and eventually reach points all over Dayton. Jones says it will also connect with the Springfield City Area Transit System.

"WestCAt is like the missing link between Clark County/Springfield and then beyond south using SCAT and then connecting to WestCAt and then connecting to GreeneCat and then going on into the Dayton RTA and beyond. So I think that it's been 50 some years since there had been a bus in western Clark County," Jones said.

Jones says WestCAt was funded by a $35,000 federal grant and will rely on fares and on-bus advertising to keep the service running. She says that western Clark County residents seem excited about riding public transportation.

"Everybody has had such a tremendous attitude toward this they're all excited and they're all like 'I know somebody who could do that or I work in Springfield and I live in New Carlisle, I can take the bus now.' So if everybody just keeps that excitement and we see people actually riding it I think it's going to go," Jones said.

Jones says that there are flex routes available and that boarding will be permitted anywhere along routes that speed limits don't exceed 35 miles per hour and disabled riders can call WestCAT in advance to request a ride.