Transit subsidies to be examined in Cape Girardeau and Jackson

Government offices are closed to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day. King, born in 1929, never held a government office, but he had a lot to say about three fundamentally American values: freedom, service and self-determination. Consider this statement he made in 1959:

"Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions and to choose between alternatives."

Something to think about.

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Regular meetings for government boards running Cape Girardeau and Jackson have shifted Monday's meetings to Tuesday because of the holiday.

Cape County Transit Authority subsidies are on agendas for the Cape Girardeau City Council and the Jackson Board of Aldermen meetings.

Cape Girardeau's council study session starts at 5 p.m. and the regular meeting is at 7 Tuesday at city hall, 401 Independence St.

Tom Mogelnicki, interim director of the transit authority, will be there to see if the council approves his request for an additional $20,000. Mogelnicki had asked for a $40,000 increase last summer. Council members agreed to $20,000 and asked him to return for the review. Mogelnicki said he plans to use the money to expand bus service, particularly to people living in the Red Star and the Westfield neighborhoods.

"Most people who live there are low- to middle-income people," he said. "NARS is actually requesting I go there. They feel a lot of their employees are coming from there."

In Jackson, the board of aldermen will consider increasing that city's subsidy for taxi service from $6,000 to $7,500.

Mayor Barbara Lohr said that would benefit taxi patrons by about $1 a ride. The transit authority does not have bus routes in Jackson. The aldermen meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jackson's city hall, 101 Court St.

A public hearing on taxi rates in Jackson is set for 3 p.m. Thursday at the county commission's office, 1 Barton Square in Jackson. Mogelnicki said taxi rates for Jackson residents will rise to $5 and $5.50, matching the lowest fees paid by Cape Girardeau riders, who pay between $5 and $8.50 for taxi service.

"Nobody likes rate hikes," Mogelnicki said, citing the rise in gas prices as part of the reason. He also said his employees need better wages and will get them "hopefully in the future. That's still an unknown at this point."

Senior citizens who use the transit authority's taxi service can buy coupons to get a reduced rate. The county's senior citizen board authorized a $40,000 subsidy for the coupon book program, which started last summer, and $45,000 this year.

Mogelnicki said the program is so successful, he will probably have to ration coupons this year, allowing a limited number (perhaps 10) per person each month, he said.

"I'm only given so much money. I have to be fair to everyone," he said. "We are a county transit company."

Meanwhile, he expects to debut a new Web site within the next month. The site is being designed by Element 74, the same company behind the Web sites for the cities of Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

He said the site will include general information for the transit authority, including schedules for service.

MoDOT has also offered to help the transit authority redesign the paper schedules so they are easier to use. Mogelnicki said the schedules and Web site will probably reflect much of the same information.

Questions, suggestions or tips for Lost on Main Street? E-mail me at pmcnichol@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 127