THE Bus, Dredge Must End

A couple of perennials are blooming again in the corridors of the county commission. I, and more with me, am tired of the hassle. Both THE Bus and Hernando Beach's dredging project should be put in mothballs for at least a decade.

The dredging might even wind up costing one senior Hernando County official his job if it's not started by the end of July, threatens county administrator David Hamilton. After the mess and delays the same official "supervised" at the Mariner widening a couple of years ago, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Hamilton swings the ax.

Previous Mariner protests have bordered on a lynch-mob mentality, anyway.

What's tacky about both THE Bus and the dredge protect is that they are largely financed by federal or state funds. Only a small portion of the financing comes from the county. But, if the county fails to act soon on either deal, the federal or state financing of what amounts to matching contributions will evaporate in a matter of months.

And that would leave the county with an unexpected bundle of cash - but, unfortunately, not enough to complete either project.

That may actually be a boon to cash-strapped Hernando County. Spend a half-million dollars on something most of Hernando County's residents really want - like more school books or a few additional hospital beds. When THE Bus attracts, at most, only one-tenth of 1 percent of Hernandoites, it's time to throw in the towel. We can piggyback on whatever commuter service Tampa Bay eventually develops in the next decade.

Last year, Hernando County blew $20,000 of mostly federal money to profile THE Bus ridership. I'm rather surprised that there were county leaders who took the fairy-tale results seriously. All the opinion sample really told us was that ridership was so tiny it was hard to get an accurate reading.

THE Bus should have actually been withdrawn more than six months ago. It couldn't, then or now, be defended even as an essential public utility. The commissioners at the time obviously didn't dare make the courageous move to shut it down - not in an election year. I'd have to agree with bus advocates; we will eventually need mass transport - when we can afford it.

We have an alternative public transport van system, Trans-Hernando, which could be relatively inexpensively expanded for the disabled. By covering that microscopic segment of the population now claiming THE Bus is just about all that can link them with their preferred doctor's office, we could probably blow away those last vestiges of rider discontent.

While we're playing with public transport alternatives, I'd like to see what our county leaders can achieve in the realm of original thinking. Some may, of course, prove to be too unwieldy or too expensive. I've recommended it before, and here it is again: Let's see if a coupon system can be introduced at a reasonable cost (within our slimmer budget) to cover necessary taxi services to supplement Trans-Hernando.

In the meantime, stop the bleeding. THE Bus has been a major drain on our limited county resources. It will never be profitable; that's a curse of public transport. There are degrees, of course, but THE Bus doesn't show any signs of even coming close.

I read in the paper a month ago that Hernando County was going to hire an environmental lawyer get the dredge soap opera under way once and for all. "Oh, brother," I mused. "There goes more money out the window." I thought, apparently wrongly, that we were going to ban expensive outside consultants from Hernando County official assignments.

The boys and girls in Brooksville should have seen this one coming. Anytime environmental issues get tangled up in everyday business, there's bound to be trouble. As in where to dump dredge slop. The tree-huggers always use environmental issues to make a mess out of what should be a straight business deal. It's just part of their arsenal.

Also here, I'd recommend cutting our losses. The dredge issue has gone on too long. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever get done. What about all the boats that would have to be relocated to where they could access a deeper channel? It may take a few years to get used to, but the boaters will eventually understand relocation was the only reasonable alternative.

Our county leaders will just have to admit the dredge project was too big and too hot to handle. The pity is it will cost the county a few thousand dollars in legal fees. But, that's no reason to prolong the agony.