Editorial

Transit dealing

A final report from the latest transportation study -- one of many over recent years -- still hasn't been issued, but the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority says it already knows what the recommendation will be: The county needs more transportation services, and the transit authority is in the best position to provide those services.

County residents who need and rely on public transportation have been saying for years that they need more and better service -- long before it was decided to spend $225,000 on another study.

It has been months since BMI-SG, a Virginia consulting firm, was in Cape Girardeau County gathering data for the study. Whether or not consumers of public transportation think the transit authority is the best provider of such services remains to be seen.

County transit officials say the current discussions about purchasing Kelley Transportation Co. began about a year ago, which means those talks were initiated before the newest study even began. Kelley operates Cape Girardeau's city-subsidized taxi service, which provides coupons for rides at a reduced rate. City officials say they weren't aware of the transit authority's negotiations to buy the taxi service.

Because of the taxi subsidy, which is funded by federal dollars funneled through the Missouri Department of Transportation, the county transit authority currently can transport riders from outside the city to doctors and shopping and other destinations inside the city, but it can't give rides to Cape Girardeau residents who want to go shopping in the city.

So, it seems, the transit authority's main objective may be to create, by purchasing the Kelley taxi operation, an opportunity to take advantage of the subsidy to boost funding for countywide public transportation.

In addition, transit authority officials say they believe they could use the courier service operated by Kelley to generate more funds.

But this is all speculation, at least as far as county taxpayers are concerned -- taxpayers who will fund whatever county transit operation unfolds. County officials held a press conference earlier this month to announce that the deal was being negotiated -- but that no other details would be given.

What the public does know, however, is that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on studying the area's transportation needs and that hundreds of thousands more dollars may be spent on buying a taxi service, a process that is being conducted without public access to details that would help them understand the value or necessity of such a purchase.

This is a strange way for government to operate.

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