GLASGOW — A local leadership group spent months on a project to promote awareness and use of the Glasgow public bus system.

Leadership group members Andrea Haynes, Tammy Pulley, Denver Schartzer and Josh Underwood created “rack cards” for the Glasgow transit system that include bus schedules and all the necessary information about the system, and they are available at various locations throughout the city.

“We just want people to know that (the bus system) is there and know when they can take advantage of it,” said Underwood, an insurance agent with Cook, Downing and Underwood.

Underwood said he didn’t know a lot about the bus system before the group started their project, and he and other group members agreed that the goal of their project was to make more people aware of Glasgow’s public transportation and encourage more people to utilize it.

“We just felt like it needed to be promoted more,” said Haynes, marketing director for South Central Bank.

Mayor Rhonda Trautman suggested the project, Haynes said, and the group members agreed that it sounded like a worthy project.

Lana Hatcher, transit manager for Glasgow Transit System, said she felt from the beginning that the leadership group’s project would benefit the transit division, and she was glad they could do something that she didn’t have time to do on her own.

“I knew it was a good idea … to bring out awareness of the city bus is something we want to do,” Hatcher said.

The leadership group started their project to improve the transit system in January. Team members rode the buses around town and took note of stops that were marked incorrectly online or signs that were inaccurate or not visible. The hard part about the project was the research and time spent making sure the information provided about the bus system was accurate online and in paperwork, Underwood said.

Bethany Matthews with Creative Designs designed rack cards for the group, Haynes said. The bus stops and schedule are printed on one side of the cards and information about the transit system guidelines and hours of operation are on the other side.

The cards are available at the Glasgow Street Department, city hall, Hatcher Home Medical, Big Lots, the dialysis center, K-mart, Food Lion, the Barren County Family YMCA, T.J. Samson Community Hospital, Barren County Healthcare, Glasgow Healthcare and Houchens at South Gate Plaza. The rack card and a map of the bus route are available online as well, through the Glasgow Transit Division website.

“Anybody can go online and print out a map and the schedule card, it’s up to date and accurate,” said Pulley, an R.N., BSN case manager at T.J. Samson.

The leadership group was able to point out some weak points in the transit system through their research, Hatcher said, and the transit division staff were able to correct any errors or inconsistencies.

“It’s just been a really good tool,” Hatcher said.

Underwood said that it took a lot of cooperation for the leadership group’s project to come together, and he is thankful to all involved.

“We appreciate the local businesses that agreed to display the bus rack cards and we also appreciate the help we received from the transit department with Lana Hatcher,” he said.

In order to ride a Glasgow bus a person must buy 50-cent tokens. Tokens are available at Glasgow Housing Authority, T.J. Samson, Save-a-Lot, city hall, Houchens at South Gate Plaza, Houchens on Happy Valley Road, Park Avenue Pharmacy and the Glasgow Street Department. Each one-way trip costs one token.

The tokens prevent the bus drivers from being at risk for robberies, and it also saves time on the bus route when drivers don’t have to count change, Hatcher said. The tokens only partly offset the costs of the transit system, which is primarily funded through a federal grant.

“It’s not a money-making project, it’s just a service to the city,” Hatcher said.

It’s a great system, Pulley said, and the cost is minimal.

“Especially with today’s economy, with the gas prices up and down, a 50 cent bus ride is well worth it,” Pulley said.

Glasgow started its first bus system in 1995 under Mayor Charlie Honeycutt, Hatcher said, and the current two 16-passenger buses were purchased in 2008. Because the bus system is funded by a federal grant through a division of the city government, the bus route must remain within the city limits, but Hatcher said that doesn’t prevent county residents from parking their cars at an outlying bus stop and using the buses to get around the city.

“The ones that want to use it manage to use it,” Hatcher said.

Each bus can accommodate one large electric wheelchair or two basic push wheelchairs, and the bus routes are designed to pass most of Glasgow’s doctor’s offices and healthcare centers. Bus drivers are allowed to deviate from their route up to three-quarters of a mile for both handicapped passengers and general public passengers, Hatcher said, so that everyone has the best access to any medical appointments they may need. With more publicity, Hatcher said she is optimistic that more people will take advantage of the bus system.

“I hope to see our ridership increase because of this,” Hatcher said.

For now, the leadership group and the transit division are simply working to spread the word about Glasgow’s bus system. In the future, Underwood and Hatcher both expressed hope that the system will continue to grow.

“Right now the focus is on getting more people aware of it … and who knows where it will go in the future,” Underwood said.

The transit division has greatly benefited from this leadership project, according to Hatcher, and the cards will be useful for a long time.

“It was a wonderful project and I’m thankful they chose the Glasgow transit system for their project,” Hatcher said.