A $150,000 state transportation grant will keep Ellettsville-based Rural Transit on the road through 2026.
The bus service transports people from their homes to destinations in cities and town in Monroe, Owen, Lawrence and Putnam counties. Most of the riders are older citizens and people with disabilities who don’t drive.
From January through October 2025, Rural Transit provided 36,815 rides in the four-county area; 14,242 were in Monroe County. There were an additional 5,243 urban transit rides between cities and towns in the district.
The service provides about 2,000 urban trips a year for riders in the Ellettsville area to Bloomington and back home for a $6 fee. Riders reserve a seat at least three days in advance.
Who should pay to subsidize the cost of the urban trips between Ellettsville and Bloomington has been a point of contention for several years. State funds for the service are intended for rural residents and there’s a divide about whether Monroe County, the town of Ellettsville or Bloomington Transit should cover costs associated with town-to-city routes.
Area 10 Agency on Aging Director Chris Myers said the state funding relieves the pressure, for now, on how to pay for the urban trips for 2026.
“It’s a big relief and hopefully for 2027 there will be positive movement toward getting a sustainable service going forward, with help from Bloomington Transit,” Myers said.
She said Bloomington Transit receives funding intended for urban transportation and it’s possible some of that money could be used to continue the Ellettsville-Bloomingotn service in 2027 and beyond. “We hope to continue that, working with local governments to fund that fully. It’s a huge burden for us to fund that entirely.”
A year ago, Ellettsville town council president Scott Oldham said the town was too cash-strapped to kick in money for the local service. “I would like to see this funded, but we don’t run a transit system and we never have,” he said then.
For decades, non-profit Area 10 was able to fund the service in Ellettsville with federal funding. That changed when guidelines for financially supporting urban-to-urban trips changed.
Myers said some local government entities got used to not having to provide financial support for the rural bus service.
The Monroe County Council appropriated $88,000 for the service for 2026. The town of Ellettsville provided no funding in 2025 and none for 2026.
When it looked as if the Ellettsville-Bloomington route would be shut down when money ran out at the end of 2023, both the county and Ellettsville council members provided emergency financial help to keep it going.
But times have changed and 2026 will be a time for working with local government officials and Bloomington Transit toward a permanent solution to make sure the bus service keeps rolling.
Monroe County commissioners were elated when Myers announced the state grant during their Dec. 4 meeting. “That’s incredible news,” commissioners president Julie Thomas said. “I’m ready to throw confetti. We’ve been looking everywhere,” she said, for money to fund the essential service.
“I’m ecstatic about this,” commissioner Jody Madeira said.
“This is great news for a whole lot of people,” commissioner Lee Jones added.
Myers said riders who use the service were happy to learn it will continue throughout the new year. She said there’s work ahead to secure funding into the future.
“Conversations in the next year will be very important,” she said.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: State grant will fund Ellettsville to Bloomington Rural Transit route
Reporting by Laura Lane, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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