DERBY — The Connecticut Public Transportation Commission will hold a public hearing at Derby Town Hall, Aldermanic Chambers, 1 Elizabeth Street, on Wednesday, September 9, at 7 pm.

This will be the first of four hearings that the commission holds statewide this fall to gather testimony from the public, transportation providers, public officials, and other entities concerning the operation of public transportation services, dial-a-ride and ADA transportation and other issues.

The commission seeks public comment on the extent to which existing services are meeting public needs and on improvements or new services to address unmet travel needs. Local and regional issues of particular interest include service on the Waterbury Branch of Metro-North, the lack of evening and weekend bus service in the Lower Naugatuck Valley, limited transit options in communities between Derby and Waterbury, the Valley Transit District’s bus service, the Naugatuck River Greenway, and other topics of interest to the public.

The commission will use the testimony received at this public hearing as well as from other hearings conducted across the state in preparing recommendations for its annual report to the governor, the commissioner of transportation, and the Transportation Committee of the General Assembly.

In addition to the September 9 hearing in Derby, the commission’s other fall public hearings will be September 30 in Old Saybrook at the Old Saybrook Town Hall, October 6 at the Windsor Locks Town Hall, and October 13 in Stamford at the Western Connecticut Council of Governments office in the Stamford Government Center, all at 7 pm.

The commission also held three hearings this spring in Norwich, Hamden and Plainville.