By Keith Inman

JONESBORO -- As passengers boarded buses at the "Grand Rollout" celebration for Jonesboro Economical Transit Service Wednesday, the Jonesboro High School Jazz Band performed "When the Saints Go Marching In."

Perhaps the music was a tribute to two people who advocated the service until the days they died.

Lee Hummelstein and Florence Jones were on the minds of many in attendance at the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce as supporters celebrated the beginning of a service that Hummelstein and Jones had worked to implement for several years.

One of the five buses was dedicated to Hummelstein, another to Jones.

Kathy Cole, one of Flo Jones' daughters, has continued her mother's advocacy as a member of the Community Transportation Advisory Board.

"Mom and Lee saw a vision many years ago for public transportation in Jonesboro," Cole said. "And it was the tenacious determination to get the job done that was so characteristic of our mom."

"Dad wasn't about being honored. He was about getting things done," said Lee Hummelstein's son, Sam. "And this was certainly one of those things he felt strongly about needing to be done in the community."

Mayor Doug Formon said Kevin Hodges and Dr. Charles Coleman visited him shortly after he took office in 2005 and asked him to pick up the mantle.

Formon said it was relatively easy to gain support for the operation because of previous efforts to establish a countywide service.

"And a lot of the problems we had been faced with before had already been solved," Formon said. "For us, really there were no major obstacles or hurdles to overcome."

He paid tribute to Coleman and Steve Ewart for their initial work.

History of JETS

In 2001 the Jonesboro Craighead County Community Transportation Committee, headed by Ewart, hired a consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive study of the county's transportation problems.

In 2003 the City Council established the Northeast Arkansas Transit Authority as the mechanism to attempt to get the system started. While the City Council agreed to contribute $130,000 for the 2004 budget year, the Craighead County Quorum Court balked at contributing $70,000.

Ewart said he recognized that he may have become a divisive force and asked Jones to succeed him. She later became president of the mayor's Community Transportation Advisory Board.

Gardner, who went to work for the city Jan. 25, gave credit to Amin Ulkarim, director of the Jonesboro Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization, Gayle Vickers, Community Development Block Grant coordinator, and their secretary, Sharlene Martin, for putting many of the things in place before his arrival.

Emotional moment

One person who plans to be a regular passenger is Brenda Book-Ward, who works for U.S. Rep. Marion Berry. Ward said she was severely injured in an accident in 1991. No longer able to drive, she was unemployed for 512 years until Berry offered her a job.

"I said wonderful, but how am I going to get to work?"

Ward said her mother, almost 80, often takes her to her job. "And when she can't, I beg, borrow and I bum rides." She said she often had to wait more than an hour for a ride in the evenings.

Ward said a JETS bus came to her office Wednesday morning.

"And I got on a clean van," she said tearfully. "And it was air-conditioned. And it will be dependable. The system works if you don't give up. Never, never give up."

Bus rides

Beginning today, buses will travel three fixed routes from 5:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturdays. Para-transit buses will pick up passengers anywhere in the city with 24 hours' advance notice.

Passengers will ride for free through the remainder of May, as passengers and drivers become accustomed to the routes and schedules. The service has designated 120 bus stop locations and 32 stops will have shelters. JETS Director Joel Gardner said that weather has hampered installation of shelters and signs at the designated locations.

A bus will stop at each designated location each hour. Until signs can be posted at each location, passengers can contact the JETS office at 935-JETS (5387) to learn the schedule for a particular location, Gardner said.

"Today I hope you all realize that Dad's hand is on our shoulders, and he is smiling and he is saying, 'Well done,'" Sam Hummelstein said.

inman@jonesborosun.com