BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—
JTA officials told Clay County commissioners that it plans to eventually downgrade its Magenta Line from a scheduled bus route to an on-demand service.
The Jacksonville-based agency took over Clay County bus service in 2019 after the Council on Aging, which previously managed the service, ran out of money.
JTA officials said the Magenta Line, which runs between the Keystone Heights Senior Center and the Veterans Administration in Gainesville costs nearly $2 million to operate, and that ridership is spotty. It plans to convert the route into an on-demand service, providing rides to and from Gainesville by appointment only.
County Commission Chair Betsy Condon said she welcomed the change, adding that homeless people in Gainesville have been using the route to ride to Keystone Heights, obtain free food from Lake Area Ministries, and then take the bus back to Alachua County.
“The intention (of the Magenta Line) is not to provide a freeway for them to come get food from the food bank,” the commissioner said. “They should be a resident to utilize those services.”
