JAUNT
Jaunt, Inc. is a regional transportation system providing service to the citizens of Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa, Nelson, and Buckingham counties. Jaunt runs a sixty-four vehicle fleet that carries the general public, agency clients, senior citizens and people with disabilities throughout Central Virginia.
The CEO is Ted Rieck.
History
Jaunt was organized in 1975 under the name Jefferson Area United Transportation. It has served 8 million passengers. [1]
Jaunt is owned by the local governments it serves and uses federal, state and local funding to supplement fares and agency payments. In 2010, it began providing rides from Culpeper to Charlottesville in collaboration with the Foothills Area Mobility system[2].
Although in 1975, Jaunt was an acronym for Jefferson Area United Transportation, in 1983, Jaunt, Inc. was created and the acronym went away.
Governance
On-demand service
Jaunt is piloting an on-demand service. Sheffield spent the late summer and early fall of 2020 going to various boards and commissions to get feedback from elected and appointed officials. [3]
Hollymead Transit Route
Jaunt launched a commuter route from Hollymead Town Center to the University of Virginia and Downtown Transit Center in 2016 called the Route 29 Express. The agency funded te service in part through a proffer for a section of the center known as A-1. However, developer Wendell Wood is asking that the proffer be amended. [5]
The service launched on May 2, 2016. [6]
Park Connect
Jaunt partnered with the UVA Foundation in the summer of 2018 to plan for a free commuter route connecting Central Grounds with the UVA Research Park. [7]
Crozet services
Service between Crozet and Charlottesville began on August 5, 2019. [8]
Fluvanna exit
Fluvanna County experienced significant budget shortfalls for the 2013 fiscal year, resulting in complete cuts to funding for Jaunt and end of service in Fluvanna July 1 2012. In 2011 Jaunt provided about 21,000 trips to Fluvanna residents and operated an afterschool activity shuttle bus service for county schools.[9]
Salary increase?
In the budget process for FY2019, Jaunt sought to increase the salary of its bus drivers from the current median wage of $14.89 an hour to $16.43 an hour. Albemarle's proposed budget for FY2019 includes an additional $142,000 for this purpose, but a $105,000 request from Charlottesville was not included in their proposed FY2019 budget. [10]
TONY
Jaunt is working with Perrone Robotics on an autonomous shuttle that will serve the Crozet area. The project is called TONY, short for To Navigate You. [11]
Greene County
Jaunt took over operations and administration of Greene County Transit on July 1, 2020. [12]
Sheffield resignation and subsequent investigation
Former director Brad Sheffield was asked to resign following an investigation by radio host Rob Schilling into questionable spending led to an audit that revealed tens of thousands of expenses on business trips. Sheffield resigned but claimed no wrong-doing. In May 2021, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation announced an investigation. [13]
Board of Directors
- Randolph Parker, President, Executive Committee, Regional Transit Partnership Rural Representative (Louisa County)
- Lucas Ames, Vice President, Executive Committee, Regional Transit Partnership Urban Representative (City of Charlottesville)
- Raymond East, Treasurer, Executive Committee, Finance Committee (Albemarle County)
- Harold Morgan, Secretary, Executive Committee (Fluvanna County)
- Fran Hooper, Finance Committee (Albemarle County)
- William Wuensch (Albemarle County)
- Audrey Dannenberg (City of Charlottesville)
- J. Raymond Heron, Finance Committee (City of Charlottesville)
- Christine Appert, Executive Committee (City of Charlottesville)
- Willie Gentry (Louisa County)
- Diane Mcnaught (Nelson County)
- Vacant (Fluvanna County)
- Vacant (Nelson County)
- Karl Carter, Executive Committee (Buckingham County) [14]
Staff
- Karen Davis, Interim Executive Director
Former Staff
- Ike Eichling, Executive Director c. 1975
- Brad Sheffield, Executive Director (2017 to 2020).
References
- ↑ Web. Nelson resident honored as JAUNT's 8 millionth trip passenger, Staff Reports, Lynchburg News and Advance, retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ↑ Web. New service buses patients to Charlottesville, Rhonda Simons, Culpeper Star-Exponent, November 9, 2010, retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ↑ Web. July 20, 2020: Greene County water, Council action, mobile home park rezoning in Albemarle, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Community Engagement, Town Crier Productions, July 20, 2020, retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ↑ Web. August 4, 2020: COVID concerns in Lynchburg; Council hears complaints on listening session, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Community Engagement, Town Crier Productions, August 4, 2020, retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ↑ Web. Hollymead developer seeks changes to transit proffer, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, April 23, 2016, retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ↑ Web. Albemarle County Announces 29 Express Route Starting May 2, Press Release, Albemarle County, April 28, 2016, retrieved January 2, 2017.
- ↑ Web. FREE SHUTTLE SERVICE LAUNCHING AUGUST 2018, Press Release, UVA Foundation, retrieved September 9, 2018.
- ↑ Web. Input sought on Crozet-Charlottesville bus, Allison Wrabel, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, April 15, 2019, retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ↑ Web. JAUNT to end bus service in Fluvanna, Bryan McKenzie, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, May 9 2012
- ↑ Web. JAUNT fighting for wage increases as city withholds funding, Allison Wrabel, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, March 4, 2018, retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ↑ Web. TONY Spotted Downtown, Theresa Curry, News Article, Crozet Gazette, April 5, 2019, retrieved April 13, 2019.
- ↑ Web. Greene County Transit now under Jaunt, Staff reports, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, July 1, 2020, retrieved July 4, 2020.
- ↑ Web. State launches investigation into JAUNT’s “troubling” spending, funding paused, RIley Wyant, News Article, WVIR NBC29, May 21, 2021, retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ↑ Web. Jaunt Board of Directors, Website, Jaunt, retrieved March 17, 2021.