After working in public transit in her native West Virginia for 24 years, Jennifer Woodall decided to move south for a new challenge in the field.

She was appointed transit manager for the city of High Point in May, overseeing the fixed-route bus system and the paratransit service for senior and disabled riders.

“I’m a transit nerd,” said Woodall. “I love what transit can do for a community. People use transit for two reasons: to make money or spend money. That’s why, across this country, cities, states and the federal government invest in transit because of the economic driver that it is.”

She’s seeking to make this the reality in High Point, which just adopted a new strategic plan for the transit system that includes more than 40 recommendations.

“I think it’s going to be a guide to position us to be stronger,” said Woodall. “Initially, in phase one, we’ll be looking at route improvements. It’s really about convenience and accessibility to the residents of High Point.”

It’s too soon to tell what form any changes could take, but the goal of offering outlying transfer points for passengers is a top priority, she said.

The plan outlines possible locations around the city where riders could change bus routes instead of having to go to the Broad Avenue terminal downtown, as is the case now.

Woodall said no specific transfer sites have been identified yet, and the idea remains in the planning stages.

The plan advises varying degrees of adjustments for most of the city’s fixed routes to serve new areas to try to grow ridership, which is down about 30% since 2020.

The changes contemplated in the plan would likely not require Federal Transit Administration approval, which could make any possible adjustments easier to enact.

The FTA funds about 50% of High Point Transit’s operations and about 80% of its capital expenditures.

“If you make significant service changes, you do have to go through the public hearing process,” Woodall said. “But I don’t think any of the changes being proposed would reach that level. It seems like some of those are relatively small tweaks.”

Another priority stemming from the new plan is growing the “microtransit” on-demand ride service beyond the city’s initial attempt at this in a pilot program that drew few users.

The concept is to offer pre-scheduled rides within a defined zone that’s not served by fixed-route buses.

“We’re hoping to evolve it into a more convenient method of travel, where the street customer has an app they use to book a trip, and it’s just like Uber,” said Woodall. “The key is to provide it in underserved areas and connect it with a fixed route.”

Making changes like these will require a balancing act, she said, where, in order to increase service on one route, it has to be shifted away from another one, because the city is not contemplating an increase in transit resources.

In addition, the city has long struggled with retaining a full complement of drivers to serve the existing routes.

“We’re still short drivers,” she said. “It is a national issue — not only with public transit but with schools. Individuals with CDLs (commercial driver’s licenses) have a gold card.”

Woodall said she hopes to make High Point the last stop of her mass transit career.

She was previously assistant general manager for the Tri-State Transit Authority in Huntington, West Virginia for the past 16 years.

“I would prefer to find where I want to retire and then complete my career, rather than complete my career and then find where to retire,” she said. “The growth in North Carolina — specifically in the Triad — was intriguing.”

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