Residents utilized Free Ride Home

The St. Joseph County Transportation Authority’s seventh Free Ride Home program offered New Year’s Eve served 14 people over a six-hour period this year.
The figure is the lowest since the Three Rivers-based agency started the program in 2008, on the eve of 2009.
As it has since its inception, Free Ride Home started at 10 p.m. Dec. 31 and concluded at 4 a.m. Jan. 1. The agency had two vehicles available, one based in Sturgis and the other in Three Rivers.
CTA director Steve Yorks said the largest group pickups were from Wings Etc. in Sturgis, Sturgis Bowl, the Tomahawk Tavern near White Pigeon and Cowboy Up in Mendon Township.
He said the program received its strongest corporate support ever, with 17 businesses contributing to help offset the $600 cost of staging Free Ride Home.