TAXI COUPONS: DELIVERY AT HOME EASES PURCHASES

Taxi coupons will be easier to get with a new program that allows the coupons to be delivered to users.

Kelley Transportation Co. plans to deliver the coupons to customers the first three days of each month to help reduce the waiting time for taxis on those days.

The way it will work is that instead of going to City Hall to get the coupons, Kelley Transportation will sell the coupons to people and bring them to their doorstep. Each person must present a city transportation identification card before the coupons can be sold.

The coupon program is designed to help senior citizens and disabled individuals by offering coupons that are good for one free ride to anywhere in the city. The coupons cost $1 each, and there is a limit of 14 coupons that one household can buy each month. The general public can also buy coupons at $2 each.

One of the problems with the coupons is that many senior citizens and people with disabilities have to use two coupons just to be able to purchase new ones. But under the new plan, people no longer will have to use coupons to buy more, said City Manager Michael Miller.

Kim Kelley of Kelley Transportation said the program is worth trying to meet the transportation needs of people.

And Maryann "Miki" Gudermuth, the executive director of the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence, said the program is a good first step in addressing concerns of the area's disabled.

"I am glad they are trying to make a good-faith effort to try to find a solution to the problem," Gudermuth said.

She said she would have preferred to see disabled people consulted before the decision was made. "I still wonder why people with disabilities aren't on any advisory boards," Gudermuth said. "We're left out of the loop."

Miller said the decision to deliver the coupons was made by Kelley Transportation, and it is part of the ongoing effort to improve the city's transportation programs.

"We can't do everything at once," Miller said. "We thought we were being responsive to some of the problems that were brought up."