By Kurtis M. Ruf, Special to The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City area, and especially Johnson County, has historically had among the country’s lowest rates of mass transit usage. Recent fuel prices and a shift in environmental attitudes, however, have turned half-empty buses into standing-room-only on many routes.
This “tipping point” has dramatically shifted priorities for Johnson County Transit and the riders it serves.
This year, ridership on The JO has jumped 39 percent. So the issue is no longer how to increase ridership, but how to get the budget and resources needed to meet the rising demand.
On Aug. 4, Johnson County Transit announced county approval for purchasing 11 new 40-foot, wheelchair-accessible buses at a cost of more than $3.75 million. But the lead-time for delivery is 12 to 15 months.
As Chuck Ferguson, deputy director of transportation, said, “Relief for standing-room-only trips won’t be immediate, but help is on the way.”
In a further effort to fulfill that promise, on Nov. 6 the Johnson County Commission approved an emergency request for $2.45 million for up to seven additional buses plus expanded service hours on five routes.
With the recent loss of a light-rail plan in Kansas City, our cities’ regional challenge will be to connect popular destination points, including workplaces, schools, shopping and recreation areas, in a logical, efficient system.
To bring in fresh dollars from other communities, our regional transit plans must mandate connection to the airport.
The JO is prepared for the new dynamics facing the county and is positioned well to meet the projected needs of this transit-deprived city.
The JO’s five-year plan calls for adding buses, routes and rapid connectors to key activity centers.
Highlights include building regional connection points, providing alternatives for downtown commutes, and offering park-and-ride lots with service throughout the day.
To provide more “added value” for riders, technology initiatives of the future will include WIFI Internet access, online trip planning and automated phone text messages when a bus is near or delayed.
Unlike the library or police department, Johnson County Transit does not receive a designated percentage of tax revenues.
To encourage community involvement we invite feedback, even complaints, from riders and other citizens.
Kurtis M. Ruf is chairman of The JO marketing committee and a partner at Ruf Strategic Solutions, a database marketing firm in Olathe. He lives in Overland Park.
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"Recent fuel prices ... have
"Recent fuel prices ... have turned half-empty buses into standing-room-only on many routes ..."
Sir, we are now seeing gas prices at $1.55 per gallon in Kansas as of today and probably lower (definitely in MO), and yet you began your defense of mass transit by throwing up a smokescreen as if we're still enduring the $4+ dollars a gallon gasoline we were suffering in June.
"Unlike the library or police department, Johnson County Transit does not receive a designated percentage of tax revenues."
Thank goodness!!! Why in hell should JCT receive a designated percentage of your euphemism 'revenues'??? What is with you people that you rename TAXES as REVENUES, as if the government has actually earned anything??? My, but you people are slick, subtly shifting the discussion from whether mass transit is even desired in a period of low gasoline prices to whether it's a problem that mass transit isn't automatically funded by yet more taxation on the poor bstrds of us that are now facing the worst financial catastrophe since the Great Depression. You seem to be trying to raise support for even more taxation to support mass transit even when it is not only wanted, but not called for, and could hurt the middle and lower class. You of course are actually involved in marketing for the JOCO Transit, and you were honest about it, so I am not surprised.
I will never take a bus unless I am forced to, because in my earlier years I was, and I hated it, I hated the forced routes, the timing, the uncertainty of whether you'd get a decent seat, the bumpiness of the ride and the frequent stops before you could get home, not to mention that you had absolutely no idea who the hell you'd end up sitting next to. The politically correct among you - hey, go ride the bus, but not me. I LOVE the freedom of the car, and screw the environmentalists who want us all packed like sardines on a slow-moving, many-stopping dinosaur. I'd also love to know how many of you better-off JO transit executives and employees actually ride the buses youself instead of encouraging the REST of the hoi polloi like myself to do?
Sir, I hope you're not one of those do-gooders who actually believes the crap that is being peddled as fact these days, including the garbage also known as 'global warming' - please tell me you're not that stupid??? PLEASE???