ST. MARY’S TODAY

LA PLATA --- The Charles County commissioners recently approved the Charles County public transportation service VanGo’s plan to roll out a trivia contest that will reward five riders with Gold pass tickets valid for one month of free VanGo bus trips. MV Transportation Inc. recently took the VanGo reins after the Charles County commissioners voted earlier this month to award the $3.4 million transportation contract to MV Transportation, thus ending their previous 17 year relationship with Veolia Transportation Inc.

The questions and answers all feature or are related to the word "van." The contest will take place during the month of July to coincid with the MV Transportation’s July 1 takeover of the bus service. MV Transportation hopes this contest will increase interest in VanGo ridership, promote public transit and reassure the riders that the changeover will be smooth. Currently VanGo serves approximately 3500 riders a day.

The five winners will be those five submissions with the most correct answers. In the event of a tie the winner will be the entry with the earliest post-mark date.

Trivia pamphlets are going to be distributed on VanGo buses and riders will be required to fill in the answers and mail them in. Commissioner Gary Hodge expressed concern over the requirement to post the entry forms but Press Secretary George Clarkson gave assurances that the prospect of one month of free rides would outweigh the cost or inconvenience of using the post.

VanGo Director of Community Services Margie Cheseldine told the commissioners that the cost of the promotion would be minimal. Assuming that each of the riders would have purchased a two dollar all-day pass each day during their free month the value of each Gold pass would be $60 for a total of $300 for all five winners.

VanGo was established in the 1990 in an effort to provide on-demand transportation to the elderly and disabled in rural areas. As Charles County developed VanGo grew into a fixed-route bus service with on-demand transportation still available for customers in rural areas. Veolia Transportation Inc administered VanGo from it’s inception in 1990 until the beginning of this month.

The decision to choose a different contractor was made following Veolia’s desire for a 42 percent increase in the contract cost to $4.76 million. That contract would have left Charles County with a $1.5 million budget shortfall.

After opening the contract to bids Charles County entertained three bids, MV Transportation at $3.3 million, Veolia at $3.5 million and J%J Transportation at $3.8 million.