June bus newsletter entry

Concerning the withholding of the proportionately small but required contribution of Independence funds for KCATA public bus transit, we have heard a number of excuses masked as reasons by city officials. We can, however, discern the difference between what we hear and what we see in actuality. We see no visible good provided to the vulnerable groups, only to affluent peers. While elective money is being spent on expensive special interest projects largely benefitting only superficial image and wealthy contractors and developers, no equal alternatives to public bus transit have been developed. Those who have already achieved a status of temporal success get more of both opportunity and funding than those less fortunate surrounding them. The vulnerable groups comprised by the elderly, disabled, and socio-economically challenged get no benefit. Adequate funding is present, but not available when the preferred priority is to spend it on special interest projects of fellow affluent peers. To willingly reallocate funding from public transportation that yields betterment, health and well-being of the full community is not effective for the benefit of all citizens in equality.
 
Among other so-called alternatives that will not work as bus replacements, there is one more that should be put to rest as a non-solution. The KCATA has something called Share-A-Fare. For the Independence area in particular, there are different rules and restrictions. In Independence, it is a transportation program that serves people who are disabled to the point that they qualify under ADA rules and regulations, regardless of age. The cost to the passenger is $2.40 per trip, as opposed to the 75 cents per 2 hours worth of multiple trips for KCATA bus riders carrying a disabled half-fare card. First of all, this is over 3 times more expensive against the disabled who get a discount of 50% from the Metro buses. Second, this extreme price hike is only good for each trip, while the Metro buses give the disabled as many trips as can be packed into a 2-hour period for less than a third of the cost. But there is more. You must be traveling into Kansas City, Missouri city limits to use Share-A-Fare from Independence. Period. Not Lee’s Summit. Not Kansas City, Kansas. Not Johnson County. Not Raytown. And the Metro buses go to all those places for a fraction of the cost. But we are not done yet, and here is the clincher. You must live within ¾ of a mile from a proper, posted KCATA Metro bus stop in Independence and be traveling to within ¾ of a mile from a proper, posted KCATA Metro bus stop in Kansas City, Missouri in order to qualify. Take out or rearrange a bus route, and there is no more Share-A-Fare ever. Because the Share-A-Fare program for Independence is closed to new enrollees due to the recent cutbacks. So if you were not already enrolled and active before all this local funds withholding started, there is nothing funded to be open to you if you live in Independence.
 
The only other so-called option, OATS, is cost-prohibitive to both the City of Independence and the passengers (as evidenced in Tracey Elmore’s Review of Public Transportation Service May 2006 report), and is only available for 12 single one-destination rides per calendar quarter to each passenger, which is easily used up in one or two days. Clearly not a viable option, and further made unavailable to all those under 60 or not so severely physically disabled that they cannot ride a regular bus with wheelchair lift. Furthermore, it has dropped the Dial-A-Ride program and only serves kidney dialysis patients and those who receive special dispensation through a long, convoluted and restrictive Medicaid process.
 
Finally, there is Dial-A-Ride in Independence, which has been dropped by the OATS program and must go through the local Checker Cab Company (1512 Marsh Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri, 64126, 816-444-4444). To join the program, a completed application must be obtained and submitted. If determined to be eligible by age (at least 60 years old) and/or disability, the applicant is enrolled and must be an Independence resident. Trips are scheduled by calling at least 24 hours in advance. Opposite from Share-A-Fare, you can only travel within Independence on this program. You are issued coupons to use and are only allowed 24 coupons per quarter, or every 3 months. You must turn in a coupon along with $2 per ride, one way. So, if you use a coupon and pay $2 to go to the doctor, and then another coupon and another $2 to go to the pharmacy for your medicine, and another coupon and $2 to go to the grocery store, and then a final coupon and $2 to go home, you have just spent $8 and used up 4 of your 24 coupons that have to last you for 3 months. Now figure out how you are going to get to work and everywhere else you must go to survive for 3 more months with only 20 one-way trips left.
 
Walking is not a viable option for the disabled or the elderly. Hitchhiking is illegal in Independence, Missouri. Relying on friends and/or neighbors and/or relatives is not viable when they do not drive or own cars, either. Local churches either cannot or for various reasons will not pitch in to assist on a large scale that is required to be a total replacement for public mass bus transit. “Foreign” (non-Independence) help organizations are not solicited to participate in “what will fit” Independence by the City Council. Local citizens who would desire to evidence compassion translated into works of financial faith are clearly not viable candidates to withstand the burden, as of the 50,247 households recorded at www.census.gov, 14.1% or 7,085 only earn between $15,000-$24,999; 15.2% or 7,638 only earn between $25,000-$24,999; 16% or 8,040 only earn between $35,000-$49,999; and 21.8% or 10,954 only earn between $50,000-$74,999. Only .8% (less than 1%) earns $200,000 or more.
 
We have heard one particular city Council member call public bus transit a luxury, and for non-riders such as herself it may seem so, but for literally thousands of our citizenry, it is a question of pure survival, and a necessity upon which they desperately depend. It is not correct politically, ethically, or spiritually to knowingly deprive the vulnerable just because they can, and in order to serve private preferences for self-serving goals.
Erin Burroughs, CPIBT Chair
(Committee to Preserve Independence Bus Transit)
 
R.O.A.M. (Riders On A Mission)
It made me late for work when the city council caused the morning bus service interruption. Pam Hurd
 
We do not need bus service cuts; we need east-west expansion in areas of service not covered. Hourly service is even spaced too far apart without making it spaced even worse and farther apart, and at night you are stranded after 5:00 pm. If you live in Independence and have to go to work and back, there is not enough bus service and length of times of service to do it. It makes it impossible to hold down a full-time job. Joe Seward
 
Between health problems and no driver’s license, I cannot make it to where I need to go on time. W. Walker
 
I am a disabled 22-year-old male with cerebral palsy. I will never be able to drive myself to doctor appointments or to the grocery store, so we need the buses to run more often for everyone who needs them. R. Foster
 
I need a ride to work, and the Metro bus is my only way to connect to my next bus. It is also my only way to visit my family in Independence and Kansas City. D. Brown
I want the buses back the way they were, every hour, because it is hard to get around when they do not run. It is very difficult now for me to get to work because of the cutbacks in buses. I am forced to impose upon my family for a ride, and that is not fair to them or to my employer when I am forced to be late because of time conflicts. Nancy Gramlich
 
If the buses do not improve, I will move. I am visually impaired and moved to Independence just because there used to be adequate busing. I go to Independence Center at least twice a week to spend my money and support the local economy, and this has now had to stop because of lack of time due to service reduction. I might as well take my money elsewhere. Joy Layton
 
I do not think it is right when I get off work at 9:30 a.m. and I have to wait for the 11:30 a.m. bus just to get home. I do not like it. I think it is wrong for people to have to wait around the many-hour breaks in bus service to get home after working a long shift when we used to never have to do that. C. Murphy
 
In the morning, I cannot take the bus as I would like to do. I always have to go in too early or leave late for work. I cannot get to work on time. It is very frustrating. D. Devries
 
I leave for my doctor appointments early and have to spend time or kill time for an hour at Walmart and wait for my appointments. L. Jones
 
My husband and I have one car, therefore I rely on the KCATA buses for transportation to my job. I hate the Independence bus routes, because they end at 5:00 pm and run only every hour, and for most of the mornings do not run at all. How do the politicians expect anyone to be able to get anywhere? We need more routes and more times. P. Karnes
 
They need to restore the buses hourly in the morning. I have 5 kids, and working parents with kids in schools need regular, reliable busing so that when kids get sick or something happens, parents can come and do what they must do. My husband takes a crew to work an hour and a half away, so I must be free to be a responsible mother. Karen Schmitt
 
I am a 57 year old deaf lady. I had meningitis when I was 4 months old and I cannot ever drive, so this has been a real inconvenience for me with all of the bus schedule changes. It is a shame that the city officials do not care about the disabled people that live here and ride the color routes. It makes it terribly difficult for us. S. Kane
 
The reason why I moved out of Independence was due to bus infrequency. I now spend my money in Kansas City where I have a bus every 15 minutes. Carey Meyer