With the help of Weslin Consulting Services, a national public transportation consulting firm, Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (Tcat) is initiating a service and fare consolidation study. Currently, City of Ithaca, Tompkins County and Cornell transportation services are operated separately, with different fare structures. The project's main goal is to improve local transit service and coordinate fares that have not been adjusted since Tcat was introduced last year.

Public involvement is a key to the study's success. To encourage interest, Tcat and Weslin are "kicking off" the program with several community meetings that will offer a brief overview of the project.

Sessions are:

• Oct. 22 -- Cornell campus, Statler Auditorium, noon - 2 p.m., and Ithaca Holiday Inn, 7:30-10:30 p.m.
• Oct. 23 -- Ithaca Common Council Chambers, City Hall, noon - 2 p.m., and Cornell campus, B17 Upson Hall, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Valuable input from current transit riders, potential riders and interested citizens also will be collected through "Tell Us Where To Go" surveys. These meetings and surveys will allow individuals to voice their travel needs -- days, hours and destinations -- all of which will be considered in Tcat's service improvement decisions. The surveys will be available on Tcat buses and at TCAT's Website (http://www.co.tompkins.ny.us/transit). They also will be mailed to anyone who requests a copy.

Rod Ghearing, general manager of Tcat, describes the study as "a way to let the community design its own transit system from the ground up. With full public involvement, the new system will better serve their specific needs."

Through this research and direct public involvement, Tcat plans to develop and discuss service and fare recommendations to make the transit system more responsive to riders and easier to use throughout Ithaca, Cornell and Tompkins County; to Richford, Berkshire, Newark Valley in Tioga County; and Interlaken in the Town of Covert. Current routing and scheduling will be completely redesigned, where necessary, and resources will be reallocated to allow the improved service to reach more residents and better serve the community. As the project picks up steam in November, a series of public workshops will be held to allow community members to view potential system alternatives and offer their own proposals.

Overall, the study will explore new and innovative transportation and communication technologies, a single simplified fare system, the use of discounts and other incentives for frequent riders and the improvement and further development of Tcat's route system.

Throughout the study, updates, progress reports, surveys and meeting dates/times will be released to the media, advertised locally and available on Tcat's Web site.

Questions and comments can be e-mailed to Tcat -- whether related to the study or not -- at <tcat@cornell.edu>. Anyone who sends Tcat an e-mail message during the study will be put on a list to receive e-mail project updates.

The entire study is expected to conclude this spring, when a detailed plan for the consolidation improvements will be announced.

For more information, contact Rod Ghearing, general manager of Tcat, at 277-9388, or David Lieb, communications manager of Cornell Transportation Services, at 255-4628.