PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION NEEDS JOINT EFFORT

The issue of public transportation continues to receive more and more attention, but less and less seems to get done. The latest discussions have focused on Cape Girardeau's taxi coupons. This service provides heavily subsidized transportation for individuals who can't afford full taxi fares and rely on low-cost coupons for taxi service.

But public transportation has been under scrutiny from several perspectives in recent years. For example, the Cape Girardeau County Commission has been looking at the various forms of public transportation offered by various agencies, most of which get funding assistance in the form of federal or state grants. And Southeast Missouri State University's on-campus shuttle system has been in the news as well, thanks in part to plans for a remote River Campus several blocks from the main campus.

Meanwhile, public transportation continues to rank high whenever discussions about community needs are held.

Various agencies that deal with welfare-to-work programs or efforts to finds jobs for hard-to-employ workers repeatedly cite the need for reliable transportation. Would-be workers without jobs can't afford to own a car. Yet they find it hard to get to job interviews, much less hold full-time jobs, without some form of dependable transportation.

Recent brainstorming sessions conducted by Vision 2020, a group whose aim is to find solutions to community needs, have listed public transportation as a high-ranked concern.

Cape Girardeau's taxi-coupon program serves a big need, but it appears not to meet nearly all the needs. Officials of Kelly Transportation Co., which contracts with the city to provide subsidized taxis service, say they would put more taxis in service if they could find enough drivers.

The city program currently costs $433,630 a year. Of that, $92,540 comes from the sale of reduced-rate of taxi coupons. Half of the remaining $341,900 comes from a Missouri Highway and Transportation Department Grant. Kelly Transportation receives $374,880 to provide the taxi service for coupon users. Part of the remainder goes for city administrative costs.

In addition, $78,000 goes to the university for its shuttle system. The university puts up the local match for that portion of the highway department grant.

Given the multiple layers of public transportation provided by agencies in the county, the university and the city, it is hard to believe that many people in need of public transportation say they don't have access to reliable, timely around-the-clock service.

Surely an effort that combined all these resources would produce broader service that could be utilized by a large number of people. While the current disjointed system serves some people well all the time, it certainly doesn't meet the needs of all the people most of the time.