Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation looking at new route schedule Source: Tribune-Review Author: Mark Hofmann Date: May 29, 2013 The Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation announced a new route schedule with changes intended to benefit the employees and customers of a planned casino in the county. During Tuesday's annual public hearing for proposed fiscal programs and services, Kim Renze, FACT operations manager, said the agency is looking to add between eight and 10 trips to the Uniontown to Nemacolin route from the new transfer center that sits off Matthew Drive and behind the Uniontown Wal-Mart. Renze said the route will run from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., adding 30 minutes to the route. Renze said the route will benefit those not wanting to drive on Route 40 to Nemacolin and the planned Lady Luck Casino.  Renze said a well-lit and video monitored area at the transfer center will be available for parking for not only Lady Luck customers but also Nemacolin and Lady Luck employees. The casino is scheduled to open at the beginning of July. "They hired a lot of local people.  The key is getting them up there," Renze said.  Renze said FACT will announce all route changes on its website at www.factbus.com. "We're still tweaking that schedule," Renze said. Other service changes include six stops added to the Brownsville-to-Republic route in connection with a new Wal-Mart in West Brownsville. "We really had a demand for that," said Lori Groover-Smith, the director of FACT.  "So it should be successful."The second and third trip on the Uniontown-to-Morgantown route, which is the 8:30 a.m. to Morgantown and the 9:30 a.m. to Uniontown, will be dropped. The changes will go into effect on July 1, the beginning of FACT's 2013-2014 fiscal year. In other business: Groover-Smith announced that Goodwill Industries has chosen to no longer be a subcontractor with FACT.  FACT will take over the routes that cover Uniontown and North Union and South Union townships, which averages out to 4,500 trips a month and will double FACT's service. Nearly all the riders will not notice the change on July 1 except for those who have contacted Goodwill Industries for ride information; they will have to call FACT at 1-800-321-RIDE (7433). Depending on the outcome of a upcoming meeting, Groover-Smith said FACT will most likely hire eight full-time and part-time drivers for the Goodwill Industries' current routes. For its operating budget, FACT is expected to receive $772,399 in federal money, $729,305 from the state and $216,720 from the county for a total of $1,718,424 to provide public transit bus service throughout the county. A total of $258,518 will be used to purchase equipment and to maintain the FACT facility.  From that, $206,814 is from the federal government, $43,172 is from the state and $8,532 was from the county. Facility upgrades and equipment as needed will come from state funding of $180,000.