NORTH TWP. | Trustee Frank Mrvan said Thursday he will agree to fold the township's Dial-A-Ride bus service into a regional system operated by the Regional Bus Authority only if the RBA is fully funded and able to offer free rides or reduced fares to those who need them.

Last week the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority directed the RBA to take over fixed-route transit systems by June 30 and on-demand service like Dial-A-Ride as "expeditiously as practical."

For Mrvan, the practical matter is the question of funding.

"It sounds like an unfunded mandate," Mrvan said.

The only encouraging piece to the puzzle he's heard recently are comments by state Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, he said

Lawson this week told The Times a top concern is preserving local bus service.

"I'm going to try to reach out to her," Mrvan said.

With Northwest Indiana Community Action, the region's largest on-demand service, announcing plans to discontinue bus service Jan. 30, Mrvan said, "I'm the last man standing to provide this service. I can't turn it over to a RBA with no funding."

Mrvan said before he agrees to any consolidation effort, he must be assured the RBA is funded to where it can take riders from one point to another efficiently and at a fair and equitable fee.

"There are those individuals who may not have $2 or $4," he said, pointing to existing bus services that offer free or reduced fares.

Reached Thursday, Lawson said the issue is a top priority.

"It's something we have to talk about," she said. "There are too many constituents who are dependent on (bus service)."

Lawson said she met with a group of senior citizens who live in subsidized housing in Hammond. Some were disabled and used wheelchairs.

"They cannot afford cab fare and rely on family, friends or Dial-A-Ride," she said. "They're completely dependent on them to get someplace, whether the grocery store or church."

With the Illiana Expressway and South Shore rail on the table when the Legislature convenes in January, Lawson said she can't predict what the funding formula would look like, but she's not the only lawmaker concerned about bus service, not only in Hammond but throughout the northern tier of Lake County.

"I really want to consolidate our courts, but if people can't get there," she said. "Everything is dependent on something else."