Editor, Times-Union: This letter is in response to the article about KABS and their possible reduction in service.
With the economy low and the gas prices high, the number of people using the public transportation system is at an all-time high. However, in this time when KABS should be raking in the money, they’re looking at having to cut services and ask the people for money that the state is no longer willing or able to provide. This doesn’t seem right.
The problem with KABS is that it’s a flawed system. Is it a taxi service (picking people up from where they are and taking them where they want to go) or is it a bus service (running a circular route making stops at various locations across the area)? I wish I had an answer.
The article makes references to “routes,” yet the website shows nothing of circular routes. It seems to be a pick-up and drop-off (taxi-style) service. So you have a large bus, roughly big enough to hold 10+ people, picking up one individual and taking them to their destination, then picking up another person and taking them to their destination and so forth and so on. Such a large motor vehicle made to hold a dozen, carrying only one individual seems a huge waste of resources to me. Also, because of this flawed system, those who wish to use the system cannot, unless they book their trip nearly two weeks in advance, thus KABS is losing paying customers.
So which is it, KABS? Are you a bus or are you a taxi? Because now, you can’t afford to be both. Either it’s time to ditch the big buses for smaller more fuel efficient taxis or begin a set of circular routes with stops at the “hot spots” in town.
I’m not saying get rid of the buses entirely or go strictly to the circular routes, the pick-up and drop-off bus service is fine for qualified disabled people, but the key there is “qualified, disabled individuals”. Those who would be unable to physically get to a bus stop on their own, or would be unable to get into a smaller vehicle because of their handicapped devices. This system seems to work for hundreds of cities across every state. So before you start asking the community to chip in the estimated $40,000 needed to keep up your flawed system going, why don’t you try using your vehicles the way they were meant to be used so you can save money and attract more customers, and then see how much of that $40,000 is still needed?
