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Hernando Today

THE Bus More Efficient Than Other County Programs

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

I just did the arithmetic based on your front page story about THE Bus. Rounding the average ridership down to 600, given that the county annual payment is $600,000, the county pays an average of less than $1,000 per rider per year. Since THE Bus only runs for five days a week, that's $3.85 per rider per day and 32 cents per rider per operating hour.

Adding in the costs paid by the federal government, the average total cost is $2,783 per rider per year, $10.71 per rider per day and 89 cents per rider per operating hour.

Compared to other public transportation systems, THE Bus is remarkably efficient! How do other county programs compare to THE Bus on a cost per user per hour basis? Nobody has hired any consultants to find that out. I'd guess that a lot of county operations are far less efficient.

If the county were a little more businesslike, there would be no need to hire consultants for a ridership survey. The administration would keep tallies of fares by day and route. Customers could be surveyed by simply handing out short questionnaires to them as they board. Someone could enter the figures onto a spreadsheet, run a stats program and - voila! - there are the numbers you need. A normal business would continuously survey its routes and ridership so that it could make changes in order to maximize use of the service.

The county could multiply ridership by offering park-and-ride locations and/or by sending buses on routes through neighborhoods. The county should also do some price searching. Would raising the price per ride to $1.25 cause a loss of ridership? How about $1.50?

Now, I know that the county establishment considers THE Bus to be nothing more than welfare for the hated poor, but THE Bus could make a major contribution to the local economy. Take myself as an example. I, like about 25 percent of the Hernando County workforce, am a commuter. I live in a rural area and will probably never ride THE Bus. Since businesses in Hernando County are mostly located along the west side sprawlway, anything I don't buy at the Brooksville Wal-Mart gets purchased in Tampa or Lakeland. Given gas prices, I think that most commuters are now shopping the same way.

But, if there were a Brooksville park-and-ride location, I'd gladly pay, say, $5 to ride a bus to Pine Island or a west-side theater. And, if there were a serious public transit system, many of the elderly who are unable or unwilling to drive would be free to get out and shop more. That's more business for the locals, folks.

The very officials who are spending millions for a boat channel strain at the relatively minor cost of a service that is needed by thousands of the poor and disabled in the county. That's sad! Current users aren't the only people who may soon need THE Bus. Experts predict that the price of oil will soon reach $200 per barrel, meaning $6- to $7-a-gallon gasoline. If that happens, exurbs like Hernando County will need public transportation just to survive.

Dallas Dunlap

Brooksville

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