New study to again look at GoBG, Topper Transit merger
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, April 15, 2026
A GoBG Transit bus picks up a passenger outside the Warren County Justice Center on April 23, 2024 (GRACE MCDOWELL / Daily News)
The Bowling Green-Warren County Metropolitan Planning Organization has issued a request for proposals to create a transit development plan for the GoBG and Topper Transit fleets, one that may help pave the way for a future merger of the two systems.
“This is really about how do we build a system that provides the best level of service to the community,” said Brent Childers, head of Bowling Green’s Neighborhood and Community Services department. “Whether that community is people who live in Bowling Green (or) students on campus, how do we deliver a service for all that.”
GoBG was originally operated by Community Action of Southern Kentucky, which obtained a contract with the City of Bowling Green to run the service in 2003.
GoBG and Topper Transit were the focus of a study done in 2019 that aimed to see if a merger of the two systems would be feasible. That study led to a recommendation that the two entities combine their operations and management into one transit service.
The GoBG service came under the management of national firm RATP Dev USA in 2020, which has operated it since. RATP Dev has also managed Topper Transit since 2023.
While both are managed by the same company, operations with the two remain largely separate.
A separate study in 2024 again examined combining the two services, but there again was no merger. Childers said the merger was held off because it would not bring any new funding into the programs without a large cost.
“We would have to spend millions of dollars to get hundreds of thousands,” he said.
Childers said the transit plan being looked at now will help pave the way for merging the fleets in the future.
“We have steps before we can get there,” he said. “That is still a desire between WKU and the city … (but) the transit development plan, I believe, helps us get along that path.
“We could still be three or four years from that,” he said.
According to the RFP, the transit plan will examine things such as ridership patterns, route performance and operational costs.
The plan will also look at long-term capital improvements for both fleets. This will include potential upgrades to facilities, vehicles, bus stops and amenities compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The plan will also look at rider satisfaction with the fleets and frequency of use. WKU and the city will work with a consultant to draft the plan. May 15 is the deadline for proposals to come in and the total cost for the plan should not be more than $120,000, according to the RFP.
About Jack Dobbs
Jack covers city government for the Daily News. Originally from Simpson County, he attended Western Kentucky University and graduated in 2022 with a degree in journalism.
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