More questions, more money?

Carson City will survey people who ride Jump Across Carson to find out how many of them are either from Douglas County or just stopping there.

Douglas, in turn, intends to ask employers located in the far north section of their county how many of their workers might be coming there from Carson on a JAC bus.

Carson's Regional Transportation Commission decided Wednesday night to wait until results from these queries are obtained, possibly in October, instead of deciding now whether to seek money from Douglas to run JAC to its popular Topsy Lane stop.

"You're not saying 'hell no,' but 'maybe no?'" asked Carson Supervisor Richard Staub about the concept of getting money from Douglas to help offset the cost to run JAC that far south.

Douglas County Manager Dan Holler replied affirmatively.

Officials representing both communities say they are bringing something to their neighbors by having the bus make its Topsy stop: Carson residents going there are spending money in Douglas and Douglas residents leaving from there are spending money in Carson.

For the pair, the question is "what's the extent of that value," said Carson Supervisor Shelly Aldean, who also serves as chairwoman of the commission.

The city receives no compensation from Douglas County to provide the service to Topsy, though it estimates cost to be $16,500 a year based on current ridership counts that indicate the Topsy site receives 5 percent of the system's one-way use.

Douglas wants the information from employers because it might "get them to kick in" some money for the service, Holler said.

Another option for the city would be not to past the Carson-Douglas border. Douglas could opt to use the regional RTC Intercity service or adjust its own system, called DART, to serve the north county area, Aldean said.

Evaluations certainly wouldn't hurt any of the public transportation systems in the area that originate from Carson, Douglas and Washoe, said Patrick Pittenger, Carson's transportation manager.

Carson started JAC in October 2005 and pays $450,000 a year from its general fund to provide the service. Both governments are struggling to make ends meet.

JAC runs weekdays 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Routes are on 60-minute cycles. The buses don't run on Sundays or major holidays.

Call JAC at 887-7433 for details about programs.

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.