Adkins: Time To Park THE Bus

County Commissioner Jim Adkins could not make himself any plainer Tuesday: "I just want to know how to take the keys out of that bus," he said.

"That" bus is actually THE Bus - Hernando County's beleaguered mass transit system.

And although county commissioners have flirted with the idea of parking the little-used system in the past, this is the strongest indication yet that commissioners may back up their words with action - especially now, since the strongest backer of THE Bus, former County Commissioner Diane Rowden, no longer sits on the board.

Commissioners agreed at their Tuesday meeting to refer the matter to both of its newly created standing committees to determine how it could legally end bus service and the potential ramifications to the public.

"We just can't afford it anymore," Adkins told his colleagues, who made the elimination of THE Bus one of his campaign issues.

Adkins said the county can no longer continue to fund a mass transit system that shows no signs of increasing ridership, which is below 1 percent of the county population.

Ridership for October was 13,453, compared to 14,141 in September and 12,485 in August, according to statistics supplied by Community Relations Coordinator Brenda Frazier.

For fiscal year 2007-08, advertising revenue was $4,300, a 73 percent decrease from 2006-07.

Frazier attributes the decrease - in part - to higher bus fares that went into effect Oct. 1, 2008. Prices rose from $1 to $1.25 per trip and from $15 to $25 for a monthly pass.