November 2, 2026

By Sara Millhouse

For the past two years, Tracy Akins, 36, of Bainbridge, Georgia has taken Southwest Georgia Regional Transit to her job as a paraprofessional in the school across town, every weekday Monday through Friday during the school year. Regional transit offers affordable door-to-door service so that rural riders can get where they need to go.

Paraprofessionals serve as instructional aides in the classroom, assisting teachers and often building deep one-on-one relationships with students. Akins works one-on-one with third through fifth graders in six classes, as well as taking on lunch duty. “It’s very busy,” she said. “I like being with the kids. I try to be a motivation and a leader for them.”

The kids show their appreciation for Akins on birthdays and holidays and during Teacher Appreciation Week, when they bring her cards and small gifts.

Photo submitted by Tracy Akins

Akins was born in Bainbridge, population 15,000, and grew up about an hour away in Tallahassee. “It’s a nice city, peaceful, quiet,” Akins said of Bainbridge.

Peace and quiet suits Akins. She’s a bit of a homebody and likes to spend time with God, reading her Bible and listening to worship music.

She’s also busy with college classes, choosing between a nursing path and entrepreneurship with dreams of working as a traveling nurse or starting her business in clothing design.

Besides getting to and from work, Akins uses transit to get to doctors’ appointments, and she recently learned that she can use it for other transportation needs, such as grocery shopping. “I wish everyone knew about it,” she said. “I try and tell as many people as I can about it.”

Akins shared her transit experiences with her sister and others, because she thinks the service is an underutilized resource for mothers with children and anyone else who needs transportation. 

“It gets me to work on time, and it gets me home safely,” she said. “Without it, I would have to walk to work and back home every day. I wouldn’t feel safe walking that far.”

Paraprofessional work is absolutely vital, but it can be exhausting, and Akins needs reliable transportation: the kids are depending on her. “Without it, I would have to walk or get others to help me out with a ride,” Akins said. “I like that I do not have to do that.”

Photo submitted by Tracy Akins

Bainbridge doesn’t have enough people to sustain significant ride-sharing, buses or other public transportation on fixed routes. The local tax base is too stretched to support transportation needs. However, many residents like Akins don’t have their own vehicle, and they still need to get to jobs, dental appointments, classes, shoe stores and churches.

That’s where regional transit comes in, providing affordable, door-to-door rides supported by public investment that recognizes the critical transportation gap in rural communities. In communities like Bainbridge, regional transit is the puzzle piece necessary to match workers with essential jobs.

For nearly 25 years, SWGRT has served more than a quarter-million Southwest Georgians like Akins with rides on 91 vehicles in 14 counties. Rides can be scheduled up to a week in advance and should be scheduled by 2 p.m. on the day before the trip.

“It makes me feel happy, because it’s something I can depend on,” Akins said.

To schedule a ride, call (833) 799-7433. In-county rides costing $3, with discounts for frequent riders and seniors. Akins reminds riders to bring a carseat if riding with a young child. 

Out-of-county trips cost $5 one-way for up to 50 miles, $10 one-way for 50-100-mile trips and $15 one-way for in-region rides over 100 miles. Out-of-region trips can also be negotiated.

Photo submitted by Tracy Akins

It costs about $10 million a year to run this complex transit system, whose drivers travel more than three million miles annually and spend 150,000 hours transporting clients. Local matching dollars leverage funding through the Federal Transit Administration’s Formula Grants for Rural Areas program, which supports transportation in rural areas with populations of less than 50,000 people.

Other funding comes from Georgia’s Transit Trust Fund Program (TTFP) and contracts for services from employers, Medicaid and the Department of Human Services. SWGRC braids together these funding sources to serve multiple needs, in business, workforce, health and social well-being. When people use regional transit to make it to their job on time, get the medicine they need or buy a gift for a grandchild from a local store, transit service is not only improving their individual quality of life but is quietly supporting Southwest Georgia’s regional economy.

Regional transit is a necessity for Akins, but it’s also an enjoyable experience. She likes to chat with the other riders and the drivers, especially “sweet and kind” driver Ms. Shirley.

“I feel safe,” Akins said. “I love it. It never fails me.”