COMPANY SHUTTLES TO BUS SERVICE

Greyhound buses might not stop in Cape Girardeau, but the Greyhound Shuttle does.

For about the price of a bus, shuttle passengers can be taken to Greyhound buses in places like Sikeston, Farmington or St. Louis.

"It's just like catching the bus," said Mike Schuck, owner of the Bus Stop Restaurant at 24 South Spanish, the shuttle's passenger pickup point. "It just takes you to your next connecting station, where you catch the next big bus. It's not like there's no (bus) service here at all."

Because Cape Girardeau now has no bus station, anyone here wanting to ride Greyhound must either travel to Perryville or Sikeston to buy a bus ticket and catch a bus. Currently, however, the shuttle service doesn't go into Perryville, said shuttle owner and operator Herman Shumake.

The shuttle service at the Bus Stop Restaurant seemingly prompted a misunderstanding between a city official and city staff worker earlier this week. Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink told the City Council Monday that Greyhound buses were picking up and letting passengers off on Spanish Street. But apparently, it was the bus shuttle, not the bus providing the service.

The shuttle is a private venture operating under the name of Ozark Limosine Service in Farmington. Shumake said the shuttle, which is a separate but cooperative venture to Greyhound, has operated out of Cape Girardeau since September 1988.

Shuttle trips are made one time a day, seven days a week, Shumake said. The shuttle leaves for Sikeston at 10 a.m. and for St. Louis at noon.

Shuttle service from Cape Girardeau to Sikeston runs $7.50, plus tax. To Farmington, the cost is $12.50. One-way trips to St. Louis or Festus are $16.

Packages may also be shipped on the shuttle, Shumake said.

Shumake said the shuttle began picking up passengers at his restaurant about a couple of weeks ago. Just Wednesday, he said, the restaurant began selling shuttle tickets, whereas before passengers bought tickets from the shuttle driver.

Shumake said the shuttle can carry 14 passengers. "If we're going to be overloaded, we'll send another bus down to get the overload, which we did when they (the Greyhound drivers) were on strike."

The shuttle pickup point at the Bus Stop Restaurant is only temporary. Once Greyhound finds a new station, Shumake said, the shuttle service will begin operating out of that location. A spokesperson at Ozark Limosine said the shuttle service had previously operated here out of Greyhound's stations.

In the meantime Wednesday, Tom Clayton, customer service manager for Greyhound Bus Co. in St. Louis, said Greyhound had requested a suspension of service to Cape Girardeau from the Missouri Department of Transportation. The suspension of service was requested to give Greyhound the authority to not quote bus schedules into Cape Girardeau, he said.

"That will pull it out of the computer bank that we go into Cape. We don't want to inconvenience people. We don't want people to come from Portland, Ore. to Cape Girardeau and we don't service Cape Girardeau anymore," he said.