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Hernando Today

OUR OPINION

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2008

Much debate has been stimulated by the speculation that THE Bus needs to be parked - permanently. With the county facing the most challenging budget preparation exercise in recent history, the subject of saving tax dollars by eliminating the $600,000-plus the county spends annually on this adventure is long overdue.

We use the word adventure rather than venture because that's what this foray into public transit was.

While we realize there are citizens of this community who have a need for some type of public transportation, THE Bus obviously is not the answer. There has to be a consideration of the cost benefit to the taxpaying public when THE Bus is discussed.

A recent survey of the ridership showed that forms were handed out to 790 riders. However, that should be clarified because ridership includes two-way trips, so you divide 790 by two, which equals 395 riders. The population of the county is about 168,000, so THE Bus serves about .0023 percent of the population on any given day.

No one can justify spending $1.67 million to service the needs of so few people, especially when that service is marginal - some would argue poor - at best.

Mobility in our society is a very important consideration of our quality of life. However, it should be done in the most cost-efficient and reasonable way.

For instance, has the county made a sincere effort to sit down with Trans-Hernando and seek alternatives that may provide a similar service at a cheaper cost? Do we need these buses that are basically empty, burning expensive diesel fuel when smaller 15-passenger vans would suffice?

There is another alternative that was discussed at Tuesday's Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting, which included vanpools and carpools. These are alternatives that are working in counties around the state. Broward, Orange, Hillsborough and Pinellas are but a few examples of providing mobility at a reasonable cost to the public.

We have at our call an agency funded by the Florida Department of Transportation called Bay Area Commuter Services (BACS), which has the expertise, the vans, the software and the willingness to come to Hernando County to provide assistance. As far as the vans go, they provide the vehicles, insurance and maintenance at a very low cost to the vanpoolers.

County Administrator David Hamilton's proposal to cut $200,000 of the annual $600,000 in local property taxes that fund THE Bus is a flawed Band-Aid approach that will do little to stop the financial hemorrhaging of THE Bus and further hamstring its already limited service. If a day of service is dropped to meet the $200,000 budget cut, what kind of message are we sending to those who rely daily on the service? "Just wait at the bus stop; we'll pick you up tomorrow?" Again, that further erodes the needs of those who require public transportation.

It's time county officials started to think of saving tax dollars while still providing the needed service for those in our community who need it.

To do otherwise, would be a continuation of throwing our hard-earned tax dollars down the drain on a bus system that has proven to be a failure. County officials need to park THE Bus and come up with a better plan for public transportation in Hernando County.

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