news-record.com

Financial clouds are clearing at the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation now that the agency has received nearly $1.9 million from federal and state coffers.

The Federal Transit Administration and the N.C. Department of Transportation released the money in three, separate grants since mid-December for vehicle maintenance, bus purchases and overall operations.

"We had a tough year," Brent McKinney, PART's executive director, said Thursday. "But as we approached the end of 2011, things began to improve and funds began to flow again."

PART ran into financial troubles last year when it used the last of its rainy-day fund to cover increased operating costs --- a draw down envisioned in the regional transit agency's long range plan. But counties around the region balked at levying a proposed fee of $3 a year on privately owned vehicles to replenish PART's coffers.

Then last spring, PART got hit with an FTA audit that found no misuse of money, but which questioned some of  the regional group's accounting practices.  Auditors temporarily blocked PART from most federal and state funds. FTA's recent release of grant money signifies that PART is well on the way to resolving those issues, McKinney said.

PART offers bus and other commuter services across a 10-county region anchored by Guilford and Forsyth counties. The agency also increased fares and trimmed bus routes to make ends meet last year.