A PLAN FOR BUSING

The wheels are beginning to turn in an effort to bring all of the various public-supported transportation services in Cape Girardeau County under a single, coordinated program. Based upon concerns that the Cape Girardeau County Commission has been hearing recently, such a coordinated program is needed. County commissioners agree that it should lead not only to improved transportation services for the people who need them, but to tax savings as well.

Last week the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, an agency that provides services to local governments in a seven-county region, offered to put together a study examining transportation needs of county residents. The county commission gladly accepted the planning commission' offer. The study, which is expected to take up to a year to complete, will examine all current transportation funding sources and services and establish a plan to coordinate them.

County residents who rely on one or more of the many transportation services operating in the county have told the county commission of problems they have experienced in finding transportation when they need it. Numerous service agencies and churches have vans that transport people, including the elderly and handicapped, but all operate separately. As a result, many of the vehicles, which are purchased with some of the $250,000 to $300,000 generated by a 5-cent senior-citizens service tax, sit idle when people could be riding them to get to places they need to go.

One of the biggest complaints is that elderly people living farther out in the county can't always find a way to get to Cape Girardeau for medical appointments. Another is that they can't get rides after 5 p.m. That shouldn't be when the purpose of public transportation is to serve the public at its convenience.

With the county commission's endorsement and the planning commission's expertise, Cape Girardeau County residents can look forward to public transportation services that better serve their needs in the not-too-far future.