CORINTH — Residents Jay and Gladys Conine came to City Hall on Thursday to speak up for their son, because he couldn’t.

“He wouldn’t understand this,” Gladys Conine said after the City Council’s public hearing on bus service provided through the Denton County Transportation Authority for qualified riders, including seniors and those with disabilities. Costs have skyrocketed in the past two years, and the city is looking for ways to contain them.

Conine’s son, Scott Weston, rides the bus each morning to Texas Woman’s University, where he works Monday through Friday washing dishes.

In fact, none of the 44 people who have applied and been qualified to ride the bus came to the hearing during the council’s regular meeting Thursday night. Many riders called or e-mailed to say they had no way to get to the meeting. Mayor Paul Ruggiere made an exception to the council’s policy and read the riders’ comments into the record.

One woman said she is visually impaired and the bus is her only way to get to her doctor’s appointments in Lewisville. Another woman said that, because of her disability, she needs the bus for her personal trips, as well as medical trips.

Another woman said she has kidney dialysis three times per week and cannot ask her daughter, who lives and works in another town, to take her to Lewisville for her treatments.

Corinth’s Finance Director Lee Ann Bunselmeyer told the council it had four options, including keeping the program as it is, stopping the service altogether, limiting the service to a certain number of trips per month, or using vouchers.

If the council opts to limit trips, DCTA is responsible for monitoring the limits. If the council opts for vouchers, riders can share more of the cost, but the city would have to administer the program.

Jay Conine told the council that the couple came to speak in support of the service, and were willing to do their part to keep it going.

“Our son can’t afford to lose his job,” he said.

The City Council will discuss the matter again during a workshop session Thursday and is expected to vote on the matter Nov. 19.

Because the city is entering the final year of its contract, any changes to the agreement also would have to be approved by the DCTA board of directors, Bunselmeyer said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.