DISCOUNT TAXI COUPON SERVICE EXPANDS TO STUDENTS; YELLOW CAB CO. RECEIVES SUBSIDY FROM SGA, GRANT

For Lori Buckner, getting around town now will be easier on the pocketbook.

Thanks to a new taxi coupon program, Southeast Missouri State University students like Buckner can get around town for the price of a 50-cent one-way ticket.

The new program, which expands on the city's successful taxi coupon program, began Monday with the sale of coupons on the Southeast campus. About 450 coupons were sold the first day, according to university staff.

Buckner, a senior from Kansas City lives at Myers Hall on the Southeast campus. Like many students, she doesn't have a car.

She said she calls a taxi or gets a ride from friends when she needs transportation around town.

Buckner, who purchased a $5 book of 10 coupons Monday, is happy about the new program.

Instead of having to pay $2.70 for a one-way ride to West Park Mall, Buckner can now make the trip for the price of a 50-cent coupon.

"It's a very good idea for those who don't have transportation," she said shortly before hailing a cab to go grocery shopping.

It's also attractive to students who have cars, she said. "It's cheaper than buying gas."

"There are a lot of people taking advantage of this," said Buckner.

Kevin McElroy, a student and Towers West resident adviser, figures he'll be using the taxi service this semester.

McElroy said his car was totaled last week. He doesn't expect to obtain a new car until after the end of the semester.

"I will probably be using the taxi service," the Southeast junior said.

Even if he still had the use of his car, McElroy said he probably would have hailed a taxi from time to time. At 50 cents a ride, it's cheap transportation, he said.

Derek Hudson, Student Government president at Southeast, is sold on the program. Student Government is helping to fund the program.

"It is personal; it is safe; it is convenient; it is inexpensive," he said.

"I can't think of anybody who wouldn't catch a cab for 50 cents," he added.

Hudson, who doesn't have a car, purchased $5 worth of coupons for his own use Monday.

For those students who don't have cars, getting around town has been difficult and costly, he said. In the past, he said, it has cost him nearly $6 to take a taxi from the campus to the mall and back.

Hudson said a shuttle bus service for students used to run to a few selected sites in town such as the mall. But that was discontinued within the past several years, he said.

The new service, he said, not only fills a void in public transportation, but also provides students who may have drunk too much a safe way to get home.

Under the taxi program, 3,750 coupons are being made available to Southeast students this semester.

Students can purchase coupons at the University Center and the residence halls.

Kelley Transportation, which operates the taxi service Yellow Cab Co. is paid $2.50 per ride. Part of that cost is borne by the students who purchase the coupons. Student Government and the city of Cape Girardeau each pay $1 per redeemed coupon.

The $2.50 per-ride cost is identical to the city's existing taxi coupon program, city officials said.

The new service for students will cost $7,500 this semester if all the coupons are sold and redeemed.

Student Government will pay $3,750 of the cost, with the money coming from student-fee revenue.

The other half will be paid by the city through federal grant money administered by the state. "It is not costing the city of Cape Girardeau any more money," said City Manager J. Ronald Fischer.

Mary Thompson, the city collector, said the city's taxi coupon program was expanded to accommodate the subsidized taxi service for students.

Under the expanded program for the fiscal year ending June 30, the entire taxi program both the new and the existing service is being funded with $74,595 in federal grant money. The city's local share remains at $70,845, with Student Government kicking in $3,750.

Southeast students who purchase the taxi coupons must use them by May 15, the end of the spring semester.

"Sales are great," said Gwendolyn Duncan, supervisor of information desk operations for Southeast's resident halls.

Duncan said the residence halls started with a supply of 500 coupons. "We sold $100 worth of tickets the first day and we didn't start our sales until 6 p.m.," she said.

The University Center, on the other hand, began selling the coupons Monday morning. By day's end, about 250 coupons had been sold at that facility.

"It was unbelievable," said Mary Richards, assistant director of the University Center. "We were amazed."

Richards said the new program appears to be a hit with students. She said those purchasing coupons at the University Center offered a variety of comments, "everything from safety issues to `I don't have a car, I can get out to the mall now; I don't have to walk home from work at 10 o'clock (at night).'

"People were just very excited," she said.

Students must present their university I.D. cards and be currently enrolled at Southeast in order to purchase the coupons. Students must also show their I.D. cards to the taxi drivers in order to use the coupons.

The purpose of such procedures is to prevent non-students from buying or using the coupons, Duncan said.

But she pointed out that students can share a taxi with other students or non-students at a cost of 35 cents for each additional passenger.

It's also a way for a group of students to extend the use of their coupons. If they are all taking the same taxi ride, only one needs to use his or her coupon. The rest can ride for 35 cents each, she said.

That 35-cent charge is the same fare the taxi service charges anytime it picks up two or more people traveling to the same destination. That fare has nothing to do with the coupon program, said Terrence Kelley, vice president of Kelley Transportation Co.

"It's great for us and great for the students," he said of the new taxi program. "I think it is good for everybody."

Kelley said the program can benefit all students, not just those that live on campus. "We'll pick them up anywhere in the city limits. It doesn't matter whether they live on campus or not.

"If they are eligible for the coupons, if they live within the city limits, we pick them up and take them," said Kelley.

Duncan said the new service fills a need. "We have a lot of students on campus that are non-mobile, you might say, so this service is certainly something that is long overdue," she said.

The greatest demand among students for the taxi rides will probably be between 6 p.m. and midnight, she said.

Hudson said the taxi service for students is a pilot project this semester. "How it goes this semester will determine whether we do it in semesters to come," he said.