USE EXISTING FUNDS FOR AREA TRANSPORTATION

Cape Girardeau's subsidized taxi service, which provides a limited number of one-way trips for a nominal fee, costs more than $430,000 a year. In addition, a study last year identified an additional $1 million in public funding that goes to various transportation services in Cape Girardeau County ranging from buses for university students to elderly residents who can't drive to handicapped individuals.

In spite of this sizable expenditure for public transportation, there is little coordination among the various services. And there continue to be complaints about service and availability of reliable transportation. Many of the complaints come from those who use the city-subsidized taxi coupons. Kelley Transportation Co., which gets about 40 percent of its business from the coupon program, says it can't hire enough drivers to provide the kind of service riders want.

With all the money being spent on public transpiration here, it seems like there ought to be a better way to run a railroad, so to speak.

Cape Girardeau County's presiding commissioner, Gerald Jones, is considering the possibility of naming a transit authority to coordinate publicly funded transportation services. The creation of such an authority was recommended earlier this year by a countywide transportation committee. But Jones is waiting on input from the mayors of Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

A key consideration, of course, is whether or not Kelley Transportation will continue its subsidized taxi-coupon service. The company says it has changed its mind about getting out of the coupon business and plans to provide the service again.

But even the coupon program has its shortcomings. In addition to the numerous complaints about timely service, there are other considerations. For example, the program limits users to 14 one-way trips a month. In many cases, users spend two of the coupons going to City Hall to purchase the coupons. That leaves 12 coupons, or six round-trips a month. Anyone who takes a taxi to buy groceries each week would use up eight more coupons, leaving just four coupons for trips to see doctors or for other appointments.

Clearly, the taxi-coupon program is of little or no benefit to workers who need transportation to and from their jobs. And this need is often cited as the No. 1 problem for workers without cars or access to shared rides. In many cases, agencies that assist in finding jobs for area residents have to provide transportation to and from job interviews -- and then worry about how newly hired employees are going to keep their jobs without dependable transpiration.

The need for public transportation is fairly apparent. What is just as clear is that there are ample resources already being spent to provide transportation, but these services are so compartmentalized that they don't reach the sizable numbers who need a ride but don't qualify for one reason or another.

It would be a shame to see the city or county look at ways to spend more money on a redundant transportation system when close to $1.5 million already is being spent on various -- but limited -- systems. If a county transit authority can be given the power to sort out this mess and provide much-needed coordination using existing tax-dollar support, then by all means let's have a county transit authority.

But if a transit authority means spending hundreds of thousands -- possibly millions -- of dollars on new staffing, new equipment, new dispatching centers and all the other costs of starting up yet another mode of public transportation, then taxpayers better grab their pocketbooks and wallets.