New Hanover County and the city of Wilmington are considering reorganizing Wave Transit, the region's public transportation system provider.

​The two government entities plan to evaluate and potentially restructure Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority, which does business as Wave Transit, stated a county news release about the joint announcement.

City and county leaders have started discussions and will work together over the next year-and-a-half to discuss proposed changes and build a new system of public transportation, said New Hanover County Commissioners Chair Julia Olson-Boseman at a news conference Tuesday.

“Our region has grown since 2004 when Wave was established by the city and county. Our community needs have changed since then, and so have our transportation options,” Olson-Boseman said. “But Wave has not shifted their direction or evolved like they need to in order to accommodate the growth and the changing mobility needs. The transportation system we have today is not the one we need for the future.”

City council and county commissioners will take more formal action on the move at their meetings later this month to start the process, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said.

“This will be involving an outside transportation expert to work with staff to come up with recommended changes for the city council and other government bodies to consider,” Saffo said.

The county and city intend to contract with TransPro, the same company that did the operational and financial analysis a year-and-a-half ago, said Jessica Loeper, chief communications officer for New Hanover County, in an email Tuesday.

“That process will begin once the joint resolutions are approved by both boards on January 21,” Loeper said.

The city and county also plan to seek public input in the months ahead, Saffo said.

Wave Transit officials said that the authority is processing the news shared Tuesday.

"As noted by the Mayor, this process is just beginning with questions and details to be ironed out," Megan Matheny, the authority's deputy director, said in an email. "At this time and with limited information, we are unable to provide comment."

Plans are to work out a new structure for public transportation and interlocal agreement by July 2021. In the meantime, Wave Transit services will continue to run while changes to the interlocal agreement are being considered, Saffo said.

Saffo and Olson-Boseman were joined by some, but not all, city and county leaders during the press conference Tuesday.

The move comes months after the New Hanover County commissioners voted on a 3-2 vote in October meeting to terminate the county's agreement with Wave Transit. The county also voted in the fall, again on a 3-2 vote, to deny Wave Transit’s request for additional funding to help bridge its operations gap for the remainder of the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Wave Transit recently announced a reduction in service hours that began on Monday for Waves fixed-route bus and ADA accessible van service. The transportation system's board was considering the changed hours to reduce operation costs to help with an estimated $775,000 shortfall this fiscal year.

Wave Transit also requested funds from the city, Brunswick County and other local municipalities to help with the deficit.

The interlocal agreement established between the city and New Hanover County is slated to be revamped with new priorities and develop a model that balances convince with coverage so that routes are strategic, run more frequently and operated “where there is the greatest use and the greatest need,” Olson-Boseman said.

Olsen-Boseman said she expects that there will be “new management and a new board.”

"We support public transportation. We think that it's time that we get up with the times and deal with ride-sharing and other avenues that we can work with public transportation. And right now I have no faith in that board and administration,” Olson-Boseman said.

City and county officials also plan to embrace innovation; include paratransit services county-wide; partner with other governments to equitably share in the cost for services to those communities; utilize available revenue to ensure predictable and sustainable funding; and incorporate a governance body in keeping with the city and county’s priorities, stated the county release.

“We also want Wave to have a sustainable model coverage,” Saffo said, adding that the new effort could identify a revenue stream, a yearly predictable funding service, in the future.

Wave Transit does not have a dedicated source of funding but gets annual appropriations from the area’s government entities to help fund its services and routes. Officials with Wave identified some constant funding sources, including adding a $7 cost to vehicle registrations. But the county and the city in the past have had differing opinions on who legally can implement such a fee. 

“Already the city supports Wave by providing more than $1.4 million in taxpayers funds each year and increased our annual funding by more than $100,000 this year,” Saffo said.

For a dedicated revenue stream, the city and county plan to look at options that will provide additional revenue without any property tax increase, Saffo said.

“We will work together to come up with a solution so that our public transportation system can meet the needs of our citizens now and in the future. This process is just beginning. There is still a lot of unanswered questions and things that we don't know,” Saffo said. “We will keep the media and the community informed throughout this process and we asked you to help us with that.”

In the next steps, the city and county staff will begin reviews and coming up with recommendations moving forward, Saffo said.

“We have a growing region, and I think public transportation is going to play a very important role and especially a county like New Hanover, which is the second-smallest county -- one of the third-most densely populated counties in the state -- I think you need a good and efficient system," Saffo said. "But what we have right now is just not working, and I think that we can build a much better system."