Transportation and mobility. Both words are ones most of us take for granted as we go through our lives.

Need to go somewhere? Hope in the car and go. It's that simple - at least for some of us.

But for hundreds of local residents, living life isn't that simple.

Last week, I was invited to ride along on one of the inaugural trips of the newest bus in the Lawrence County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities fleet. It was eye opening, not in terms of the beautiful people who ride the buses each day, but in the politics behind their daily ride.

Each day the county's MRDD board shuttles more than 200 residents to and from their homes, work and school.

It is a service most people do not realize is there.

"There's a great need for it," said board superintendent Paul Mollette. "If you have a vehicle, you don't think about it."

The age-range of those people served by the MRDD's transportation system ranges from the very young to nearly senior citizen-age residents.

Even the simplest of everyday tasks such as going to the doctor or grocery store can become a major hurdle when you cannot drive yourself.

"It's not an option for people with severe disabilities," Mollette said. "Some small percentages could drive a car, but that's a small minority."

State law prohibits any MRDD client from being on a bus for more than 90 minutes straight. That requires some juggling of routes and creative thinking on the part of the transportation officials with the MRDD board.

And despite the great job they do, the rural aspect of our county is difficult to overcome. On my bus ride I learned that young Adam Jenkins is unlucky enough to live at the end of the route. That means he's on the bus just less than 90 minutes each day, both going to school and heading home. Almost three hours on a bus, that's enough to irritate the most patient of adults, but Aaron took the trip in stride. He's used to it.

Interestingly, the county's MRDD board serves as an example of one of the several segments of the community that has a need for some form of public transportation system.

Currently a number of public and private organizations attempt to meet the transportation needs of the public. Unfortunately their efforts are splintered a bit.

In 2001, the Ohio Department of Transportation in partnership with the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina State University conducted a study of transportation in the county.

The report's authors concluded that due to eligibility requirements even the public transportation sources available are under utilized.

Furthermore, the report concluded that given the level of dollars already being spent by the various organizations a good, medium-sized rural transportation system could be funded.

The main thing the county would need to do is simply pool its resources.

It seems simple, but the reality is that getting all of the parties involved would likely be more complicated. As anyone familiar with government can attest, few government leaders will knowingly relinquish power or dollars - even if doing so is for the greater good.

For Mollette and the children and adults his organization serves, a better answer is needed. How to get everyone on the same pages is more difficult to see.

"Some of these children are so young, so little and so fragile," Mollette said. "We're hoping to see what we actually can do to change things for the better."

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Ironton Tribune. He can be reached at (740) 532-1445, ext. 12 or by e-mail to kevin.cooper@irontontribune.com.