Jackson wants transit authority contract

To win extra support from the city of Jackson, the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority will have to provide guarantees of low prices and better service, members of the Board of Aldermen said Monday night.

During a board work session, several members expressed frustration with the transit authority and echoed complaints they have heard from constituents. The transit authority is asking Jackson to increase its annual support to $20,000 from the previous level of $6,000.

"What we need is for our service to return as close to what it was as possible," Mayor Paul Sander said during the work session. "What we are being asked to do is go from $6,000 to $20,000 to get service back to what it was."

In July, the transit authority transformed itself from a weekday service providing rides for residents of Jackson and rural sections of the county to a comprehensive transit system providing 24-hour-a-day taxi service and daytime bus service in Cape Girardeau. The authority moved its offices and dispatching center to Cape Girardeau from Jackson.

As a result, the authority has suffered severe growing pains. Jackson residents, especially senior citizens used to heavily subsidized rides, discovered that the money for those subsidies was being stretched so thinly that the authority was forced to charge full price for rides during the latter half of each month.

The authority receives funding from several sources. Rides for senior citizens and the disabled are supported by the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging. At the end of the year, pleas for extra money were answered by the Cape Girardeau County Senior Services Fund Board, which increased support from $55,000 to $95,000, and Cape Girardeau County, which granted a boost to $50,000 from $20,000.

The authority has already cut prices in Jackson in recognition that it is mostly serving an older clientele. Taxi rides in Jackson, which used to be as high as $5, have been cut to less than $2.50.

Authority director Jeff Brune appeared before the board on Dec. 18 to seek the increase.

Alderman Larry Cunningham, who was skeptical about the size of the increase that evening, remained so on Monday night. He pointed out that while Jackson is being asked for a 333 percent funding increase, the city of Cape Girardeau hasn't been asked to contribute more.

"We need a written contract with a satellite office with rates being adjusted to where they were," Cunningham said.

Sander, however, pointed out that Cape Girardeau provides $70,000, more than 10 times Jackson's support, and the population of Cape Girardeau is little more than double that of Jackson.

In the end -- without taking a formal vote -- the board directed city administrator Jim Roach to meet with Brune and city attorney Tom Ludwig to draft a contract spelling out the authority's obligations in return for additional funding.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126