Public transportation: Where do we go from here?

~ Where do we go from here?

Nathan and Sara Cromwell haven't met Frank Spielberg yet but the couple hopes Spielberg's suggestions on how to improve public transportation in Cape Girardeau County will make their lives a little easier.

At three public meetings to be held Nov. 8 to 10, Spielberg, a public transportation consultant, will present his findings from a year-long study of Cape Girardeau County's problem of inadequate public transportation.

The meetings will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. each day at the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau, the Missouri Extension Center in Jackson and the Osage Community Centre in Cape Girardeau.

For years, public transportation has been the area's No. 1 problem, according to a comprehensive study conducted by the United Way of Southeast Missouri.

"We have all these agencies who have client after client dealing with the issue of lack of public transportation," said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the United Way of Southeast Missouri. "These people can't hold a job because they don't have public transportation to and from work."

Inside the Cape Girardeau city limits, the only means of public transportation are a taxi coupon program, a university campus shuttle system and van services for disabled residents. Many people simply stay at home or walk rather than wait up to an hour and a half for a taxi, including the Cromwells.

"I'll walk wherever I have to," Nathan Cromwell said. "The cab fare is too high and you sometimes have to wait several hours for it to come. It's just ridiculous."

Nathan Cromwell, who is unable to work due to a disability, and his wife, Sara, who is four months pregnant, spend almost $50 a week on cab fares. On several occasions they were late to Sara's doctor appointments because a cab didn't show up in time, Nathan said.

The city's taxi coupon system could work for the couple, said Nathan Cromwell. But a person is only allowed to purchase 14 coupons per month at a price of $2 for a one-way ride inside city limits. Elderly and disabled people can get them for $1 apiece.

"They really need a bus route here," Nathan Cromwell said. "It will make things so much easier for my wife and I to go to doctors appointments, the grocery store. We won't have to worry about walking anymore."

The Cromwells, who live on North Spanish Street, say they don't understand why a city the size of Cape Girardeau can't have a fixed bus route.

"I lived in St. Louis before I moved here and they had a great bus system," Nathan Cromwell said. "Cape needs one that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So many people would benefit from it, especially my wife and I."

A fixed bus route that would run from south Cape Girardeau out to Wal-Mart is one suggestion Spielberg will present at the public meetings.

But Cape Girardeau isn't the only focus of Spielberg's study, which was funded by the Missouri Department of Transportation. Public transportation in the entire county is in need of improvement.

The Cape County Transit Authority, a private not-for-profit company, operates out of Jackson. The transit authority has 10 shuttle vans but can only give rides to people into Cape Girardeau and out of the city. Kelley Transportation is contracted by the city to provide the taxi coupon program inside Cape Girardeau.

Jeff Brune, the Cape County Transit Authority executive director, hopes Spielberg's study will initiate a change in the current public transportation system.

"No study like this has ever been done before," Brune said. "Mr. Spielberg is going to come here and say 'This is what you need to do, these are what routes you should make.' He will be giving us options of what to do."

County and city officials as well as members of the communities will be left to decide what they want done, Brune said.

Paducah, Ky.'s public transportation system, which has 65 vehicles in operation and 24-hour service, made more than 550,000 trips last year. Brune said in the past year, between all the public transportation agencies, 300,000 trips were made in Cape Girardeau County.

"There's hope that the public transportation system can get better," Brune said. "There are plenty of other cities that operate a much better transportation system. If Paducah can operate over 500,000 trips a year, we should be able to do more than that."

But it isn't that easy, say those in charge of handling the public transportation needs. It takes hundreds of thousands -- sometimes millions -- of dollars to operate a fixed-bus route system.

"As far as the city of Cape Girardeau is concerned, the only money we have is for the taxi coupon program," said Heather Brooks, assistant to the city manager. "As it stands now, it's not in the city's budget to provide a bus system."

To operate a public bus system, other entities besides the city of Cape Girardeau would need to get involved, Brooks said.

A 1998 study by the SEMO Regional Planning Commission determined that $907,000 was spent in the county on public transportation. That included money spent by the taxi coupon program, the Cape Girardeau Transit Authority shuttle service, SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence and VIP Industries.

The transit authority's service and taxi coupon program receive federal, state and local funding.

Spielberg will suggest improving public transportation by merging all these transportation systems, which will make a more efficient system with the ability to draw more state and federal subsidies.

"Some of the main concerns I've heard about the current systems are that you may have to wait a long time for a vehicle to come," Spielberg said.

He also said Cape Girardeau may have outgrown its taxi-coupon program, which was established in the 1980s.

"We will describe several alternatives in more detail at the meetings and discuss the pros and cons of each," Spielberg said. "I do believe a fixed bus system is feasible for a county this size. We really want to hear from the community on their views about what services would best suit their needs."

MoDOT is sponsoring free rides to the public meetings if scheduled 24 hours or more in advance. For a free ride contact the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority at (573) 243-1835 or Kelley Transportation at 335-5533.

jfreeze@semissourian.com