With a $10 million boost, new transit options could be coming to rural New Hanover County

Transit in a rural but growing part of New Hanover County could be getting a boost with more than $10 million in grant money from the federal government.

The Castle Hayne area is one of 11 North Carolina communities selected to participate in Mobility for Everyone, Everywhere in N.C., a program from the N.C. Department of Transportation that aims to bring on-demand transit to rural and low-income parts of the state.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the program would receive $10.4 million from the department’s new Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program. In all, the state program is expected to cost more than $32 million.

The federal grant requires a non-federal match, which will come from a combination of local and state funds, according to Jamie Kritzer, assistant director of communications for the N.C. Department of Transportation. The department of transportation plans to finalize the program's budget and funding sources in the coming months.

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The money will go toward expanding on-demand transit services in Castle Hayne along with 10 other North Carolina cities, including Henderson, Selma, Marion, Asheboro, Burlington, Wilson, Rockingham County, Sanford, Salisbury, and Rocky Mount.

Many rural areas in North Carolina rely on demand response public transportation, a service that typically requires scheduling 24 to 48 hours in advance, according to Kritzer. On-demand transit, in contrast, provides a more immediate service, which can be more viable for residents facing transportation barriers.

Locally, Wave Transit will carry out the expansion of on-demand transit to the Castle Hayne area. The federal grant money will also go toward expanding the service hours of on-demand transit and adding vehicles to continue the service after the end of the system’s pilot program.

The expansion is tentatively scheduled to start in early 2024 and will last three years, according to Kritzer.

Wave Transit launched its on-demand pilot program, also called microtransit, in October 2021. The service offers a “point-to-point” service that uses smaller shuttle vehicles and allows users to schedule their rides instead of waiting for a more traditional fixed service bus, according to the transit system’s website.

The system currently offers service in four zones that span across New Hanover County, with two zones stretching into parts of eastern Brunswick and southern Pender counties. However, excluded from the coverage area is Castle Hayne along with other parts of the county's southern end.

Castle Hayne is identified as an area of demographic need in the application for the federal grant. Demographic maps included with the application show, for example, that more than 40% of residents in some parts of Castle Hayne are over the age of 65.

In other parts of the community, between 20% and 32% of people are living below the poverty line and between 13% and 16% have a disability, according to the demographic maps.

The application from the N.C. Department of Transportation notes that rural residents often have fewer transportation options than those living in more urban areas, which can lead to isolation and pose challenges in accessing basics like employment, healthcare and education.

Applications for the grant were evaluated based on various criteria, including project readiness, cost-effectiveness and whether the project supported critical goals, which included enhancing safety, increasing mobility and reliability, improving resiliency and restoring infrastructure, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The news release announcing the government grant award notes that for decades rural areas have seen disinvestment. Nationwide, around 13% of rural roads and 10% of off-system bridges – most of which are in rural areas – are in poor condition, according to the release.

In an emailed statement, Wave Transit Executive Director Marie Parker called the funding a “historic achievement” that will provide public transportation to “corners of the community that are underserved or unserved.”

“The newly expanded system, if adopted, will add more service hours, more vehicles, and serve a larger footprint in the future,” she wrote. “This will improve the quality of life for our residents by providing affordable, convenient, and expanded public transit service access to essential services and economic opportunities.”

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at edill@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Castle Hayne could get new transit options with $10.4 million boost