The Herald Journal reports this morning that the CVTD is considering eliminating bus service on six days of the year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, July 24, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, because of low ridership.
I’ve got mixed feelings about this. For one, I appreciate that they’re looking for a way to cut costs. But all we ever hear about when we suggest that the CVTD charge a fare is “what about the low income riders” or “what about the disabled who require this service to get around?”
Are those constituencies not riding the busses on the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping? Are they not working on Christmas Eve or New Years Eve like so many others? Do they not want to travel to Willow Park for July 24 festivities?
I’m just saying, you can’t use an argument like that constantly for your organization and then pee on those same people when you need to do something like this.
Here’s a simple solution: Charge a modest fare, and allow those who can’t afford it to get a fare waiver. It works for the majority of other systems in the country, it can work here.
Just an interesting note on how bad CVTD is.
Yesterday (april 9th) my sister-in-law was applying for a job at the city offices. After her interview she was approached by a man in the parking lot who pulled a gun and told her to get in and unlock the doors. She said she would really rather not go with him, but here he could take the key and go. No, he insisted that she drive. They went to the fairgrounds, and when he didn’t see whatever he was looking for he made her drive him to the mall. She tried speeding to attract police attention, but got no notice. When they got to the mall he got out and she took off as fast as she could. She drove 2 blocks, then pulled over and called the police.
My question is this: How bad must you not want to ride the bus to hijack a 19-year old girl in a parking lot that is shared with the POLICE? then taking your life into your own hands in the old rattletrap car she had borrowed from me? That’s a telling note.
“Are those constituencies not riding the busses on the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping? Are they not working on Christmas Eve or New Years Eve like so many others? Do they not want to travel to Willow Park for July 24 festivities?”
Actually, those constituencies are not riding the busses on these days. My personal experience in driving on these days has shown that riders do not ride these six days. Reasons? I would guess that riders are doing what everyone else is doing on these holidays: enjoying their day off at home.
Particularly, the day after Thanksgiving I persinally expected more riders to be using the service going to different stores. But thinking about it, most people buy a lot of ‘stuff’ on that day that is hard to drag around. The 24th of July is just like the 4th of July in Utah. Everybody has work off and are spending time with their families. Generally, people are not using the service to go to Willow Park. I had a two hour period last year on July 24th in which I had zero passengers.
From my perspective, CVTD is trying to spend its money wisely and not waste it on providing service that riders don’t use. An alternative solution for these holidays may be reducing hours to Saturday-type service (especially on holidays like Presidents Day) but cutting service on these days would be a more effective use of tax payer money.