COUNTY TAPS TRANSIT ADVISORY PANEL

JACKSON, Mo. -- A week after creating a transit authority and appointing a five-member board, the Cape Girardeau County Commission on Monday named a nine-member transit advisory committee.

The committee is expected to aid the authority in coordinating transportation services in the county.

But advisory committee member Miki Gudermuth said the commission erred in not appointing transit users to the transit board and advisory committee.

Gudermuth, who directs the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence, said the advisory committee is "burdened" with transportation providers and agencies that fund transit services.

Besides Gudermuth, the advisory committee includes Terrence Kelley, Francis Gould, Jess Hopple, Ron Swift, Charlotte Craig, Glenda Hoffmeister, R.J. McKinney and Joe Smith.

Kelley operates a taxi service in Cape Girardeau. Gould directs the Missouri Division of Family Services office in Cape Girardeau. Hopple is a retired businessman from Cape Girardeau. Swift directs the tax-supported Private Industry Council. Craig directs the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center. Hoffmeister manages the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging. McKinney serves on Cape Girardeau city's Planning and Zoning Commission. Smith is on the board of directors of Cape County Transit, a van service that provides transportation primarily for the elderly and handicapped.

Gudermuth said public transportation services won't be addressed adequately if those who take taxis and ride in transit vans aren't represented.

The transit board members are Jean Kurre and Dale Rauh of Jackson, Doug Richards and Ray Duffy of Cape Girardeau, and Roland Sander of Gordonville, Mo.

Kurre is a former bus supervisor for the Jackson School District. Rauh is director of rehabilitation for St. Francis Medical Center. Richards directs Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Public Safety. Duffy owns Bootheel Area Rapid Transportation, which provides van transportation to and from the St. Louis airport. Sander is a retired schoolteacher.

Gudermuth worries that the transit board and advisory committee will become bogged down in a "turf war" rather than address transportation needs.

Gerald Jones, Cape Girardeau County presiding commissioner, said the commission isn't opposed to appointing transit riders to the advisory committee, but the commission isn't aware of any riders expressing interest to serve on the committee.

"If we find good, level-headed consumers, we can always appoint them," said Jones.

Gudermuth said an advisory committee can work with as little as 10 members.

"Ten is a good number if you are laced with diversity," she said.

Gudermuth said the committee should include a cross section of transit users, including the elderly, minorities, the visually impaired and the physically handicapped.

She said she would be willing to step aside and let others serve on the advisory committee if it would allow the transit users to be represented.

Transit users need to be represented if the county is to see improved service. "

We are not here because everything is running great," she said. "We are here because there are problems."

The commission plans to meet with the transit board and the advisory committee within the next few weeks.

Jones said the commission wants the transit board to work with current transportation providers to improve services.

"I do feel like we ought to work within some of the framework of what we have out there now," he said. "We don't need to try to reinvent the wheel, but there are a lot of things that could be improved on."

That could involve centralized dispatching and more efficient use of existing transit vehicles, he said.

"Why not work toward contracts with existing providers?" he asked. "Why not try to merge some services together?"

Jones said he expects the transit board and advisory committee would meet jointly, at least initially.

There are no detailed marching orders for the transit board and committee, but Jones said the two groups will first have to develop a budget. The transit board is expected to consider hiring a transit coordinator.

Jones said he has confidence in the transit board.

"I think those five people are loaded up with common sense," he said.

There are more questions than answers at this point, Jones said, but the commission felt it was time to move ahead and create a transit authority and advisory committee.

"We have studied this to death," he said.

The transit authority will have some independence under state law to address transportation issues, but Jones said the commission plans to keep in touch.

"From a political point of view, we will definitely have them report to us," said Jones. "We want to stay very informed."