Fort Hill – Graham County Transit riders can rest assured that they’re in good hands, with the agency being recognized for its attention to safety.
For the third year in recent history, Graham County Transit has received a safety award from the N.C. Public Transit Association, being recognized for its road safety performance among systems under 500,000 miles. Safety award results were made public on April 24.
Graham County was also recognized in 2018 and 2020.
“There were only two (awards) in the western district,” said Graham County Transit Director Juanita Colvard. “Graham County won one and Mitchell County. For a small rural system, we won the award for having no accidents.”
She said the association looked at several factors to determine award winners.
“They look at several things, but mainly the number of miles you’ve driven with no accidents,” Colvard said.
Colvard credited constant training and maintenance with ensuring that the system was safe.
“There’s so much training that goes on here,” Colvard said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Assistant director Tracy Jenkins noted the maintenance regimen for the county transit vehicles.
“They are pre-tripped to make sure that everything’s in good working order – any fluids that need to be topped off – and in the evening, they come in and do a post trip every day to make sure that everything is still in good working order,” Jenkins said. “If it’s not, it’s turned in and it’s sent to maintenance.”
The vehicles are also sanitized daily, to protect against COVID-19.