Second meeting on transit plan draws fewer people than first

~ One official said many Jackson residents didn't think the plan was a concern to them.

A handful of social workers, whose clients use public transportation, heard the second of three presentations on ways to improve Cape Girardeau County's public transportation.

Despite a small turnout at Jackson's University of Missouri Extension office, organizers of the public meetings were still pleased with the number.

"Any turnout is a good turnout," said Jeff Brune, executive director of the Cape County Transit Authority.

Public transportation consultant Frank Spielberg, who spent the past year identifying the county's transportation problems and devising possible solutions, presented his findings at the Salvation Army on Tuesday, the Extension Office on Wednesday and will do the same at the Osage Community Centre today.

About 50 people showed up at the Salvation Army and more than 20 heard the presentation at the University of Missouri Extension Office at 684 W. Jackson Trail.

"When you pick the location for these meetings, you just never know what to expect," Brune said. "We chose the Salvation Army building because it was in an area of the city where a lot of people who utilize public transportation lived. People could walk to it if they had to."

The Missouri Department of Public Transportation, which funded the public transportation study, sponsored free rides for people to the meetings. However, only five people called the Cape County Transit Authority on Tuesday for a ride and no one called for a ride to Wednesday's meeting.

"That was a concern from a few people who attended Tuesday's meeting, how to get to there," said Shirley Tarwater, transit operations specialist for MoDOT. "MoDOT did sponsor free rides, but I think a few people called in for a ride too late."

MoDOT asked that people needing a ride to the public transportation meetings call at least 24 hours in advance.

Wednesday's public transportation meeting at the University of Missouri Extension office was geared toward residents living in the county, said Tarwater.

"We chose the Extension office because of the amount of space and more parking was available," she said. A county building was too small and no school was available, she said.

Brune believes not as many people showed up to Wednesday's meeting in Jackson because they didn't think the transportation plan was a concern to them.

"A lot of what we're discussing affects the city of Cape Girardeau," he said. "But it really does affect the entire county."

Spielberg's solutions for public transportation included a fixed bus route in Cape Girardeau. He also said that all current public transportation entities -- the city's taxi coupon program contracted to Kelley Transportation Co., the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority and Southeast Missouri State University's shuttle bus -- could unify under one main system.

The final meeting on public transportation will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. today at the Osage Community Centre in Cape Girardeau. For a free ride, call the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority at 243-1834 or Kelley Transportation at 335-5533.

jfreeze@semissourian.com