Monday, November 10, 2025–8:15 p.m.

-David Crowder, WRGA News-

The Rome City Commission has approved the reimbursement of funds from the use of tripper buses as school buses.

For 30 or 40 years, Rome Transit Department buses were used to transport city students to and from school. Then in 2019, the city was notified it was no longer in compliance with Federal Transit Administration rules. 

The city school system was able to quickly buy a fleet of buses, hire staff, and establish a transportation department.  

However, there still remained the issue of paying funds back to the federal government.

The FTA determined that the value of the 28 tripper buses in the RTD fleet at the time the city was found to be non-compliant was $1,489,555.82.

“Our friends at FTA have already been paid by the Georgia Department of Transportation,” said Rome City Manager Sammy Rich. “So now, GDOT would like to me made whole, so that is what is before us here tonight.”

The city has $431,700 from the sale of some of those buses set aside, along with $64,927.88 in the remaining balance in fiscal year 2023 Transit Trust funds, leaving a remaining $992,907.94 that will still have to be paid to GDOT.

“We are being asked to go to the City of Rome taxpayers and go to the general fund for that payback,” Rich said. “Instead of that, the Transit Trust funds would be used on an annual basis to repay the money in question.”

Rich expects the Transit Trust funds will grow. It’s provided to states and is, in part, determined by the number of people using Uber and Lyft. 

“I feel good about that segment of the market growing,” Rich added. “Hopefully, that balance will continue to grow in terms of what is available in that grant money. If that’s the case, maybe this will get retired sooner than later, but perhaps six or seven years is our guess, at this point.”