Morton Marcus, writer and speaker formerly with the IU Kelley School of Business, in the Bloomington Herald-Times:
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What do you care if the Hammond buses stop running? Hammond is up there in the northwest corner of the most northwest county in the state. In fact, what do you care if all the public bus routes in the state were closed down?
Will it hurt you if Indianapolis, Bloomington, or Evansville called a halt to bus service by the end of June? Does your employment depend on the buses running in South Bend, Fort Wayne or Lafayette? If your answer to either question is NO, then why would you want to see the buses in those cities continue to run along with those in Terre Haute and Gary?
Hammond is likely to see its buses stop on June 30 because there is neither the political will nor the political courage in Lake County to keep them running. The Hammond buses are operated by the RBA (Regional Bus Authority), which runs out of money in just a few weeks. Hammond doesn’t want to support its own buses. The Lake County Council sees no reason to raise taxes or fees to support public transit.
The standard argument of public transit opponents is “the fare box ought to cover cost of service.” That’s a great proposition which happens to work for only limited services over high density routes for middle- and upper-income riders. Routes that serve the standard community and meet the needs of lower income riders require subsidies.
It does not matter if we help people get to work or to school, to shopping or medical appointments, public transit is expensive. But it is a bargain. Do we have a more prosperous society if the poor cannot get to their jobs? Do we have a healthier society if the sick cannot keep their appointments? Is our future brighter if students are closed out from attending classes because the buses do not provide service?
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More money for public transit does require more accountability by transit operators. It’s time to look hard at feather-bedding and costly work rules. But first comes the money, and there is little time to deliver before the last bus closes its doors in Hammond.
See the entire editorial here:
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2012/05/25/digitalcity.public-transit-facing-funding-crisis-in-indiana.sto
