By the numbers

The Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority board has wisely asked for more facts before authorizing service and fare changes for its bus and taxi services that started in July.

Transit authority executive director Jeff Brune wants to discontinue the practice of charging half-price to anyone who calls to reserve a taxi ride 24 hours in advance.

Brune says the transit authority computers lack the ability to locate where the taxis are at any given moment, causing difficulty when combining discounted rides with regular pickups.

He says some discount-ride callers also fail to cancel when they find other rides.

To compensate for doing away with discounts, Brune wants to reduce the cost of taxi rides -- in Cape Girardeau by $1 to $2 during the day and by $1.50 to $3.50 at night, and in Jackson by $2 to 2.50.

Brune provided the commission with no figures about how many people have used the discounts and at what times.

Board chairman Doug Richards told Brune any change in service would have to be justified with numbers.

The board is expected to consider the changes at its Nov. 29 meeting.

Otherwise, the new transit system appears to be working, averaging nearly 73 bus riders a day since its inception in July. October ridership was nearly 90 per day.