 Well, in many rural areas across Minnesota, transportation can be nearly impossible if you do not have the ability to drive. An organization has recently been set up by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to try and solve some of the barriers facing residents in the Region 5 counties. Our Anthony Scott has more. When they first told me that I wasn't going to be able to drive for a while, it was like, just let me die now. When Jamie Wolski of Bacchus, Minnesota was told she could no longer drive for medical reasons, she felt stranded and had no idea how she was going to get around anymore. Many cities within the Region 5 counties of Morrison, Todd, Wadena, Crow Wing and Cass have flawed public transportation systems or do not have a public transportation system at all. We are so spread out. There's nothing here for transportation, nothing at all if you don't drive. In Cass County, there is a group called Faith in Action which relies on community volunteers to transport people if they have no other options. Cass County also has Health, Human and Veteran Services, which also functions on volunteer drivers, but they can only transport specific groups of people that meet certain requirements. Both of these programs can't transport people to work or other functions every day. Folks need to have a better backup. They need to have a better safety net so that they can work and function. To help solve these problems, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has set up a Regional Transportation Coordinating Council for Region 5. It's difficult for public transportation or private or volunteer drivers to get to so many places when it's so spread out, so this is seeing how we can help those individuals that are struggling, how can we erase the barriers and make it easier for people to use transit. The RTCC has been gathering information from the public and from stakeholders to come up with a plan to make transit more efficient in the next year. The first year is kind of a planning and then the second year is implementing what we just planned and so what we're planning is all through the stakeholders and what they come up with is going to be the plan that goes for year two. Many ideas are being thrown around but it is not as easy as just getting another bus route because of the long distances. I would see a very, very layered system that would be interconnect. The RTCC has a long way to go to solve the problem but many residents are at least happy there are conversations happening. Reporting from Pine River, Anthony Scott, Lakeland News. The RTCC's next public meeting is scheduled for April 2nd at the Northland Arboretum in Brainerd. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.