Topeka ? State van-pool riders see victory around the next turn.

All that is needed is for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to not veto legislation that would keep the commuter program running and require permission from the Legislature before it could be abolished.

“It has been a learning experience for me,” said Abe Rezayazdi, a van-pool coordinator from Lawrence who has been at the center of efforts to keep the program in place.

When the 2004 Legislature started, the Sebelius administration proposed eliminating the state-run van pool, which includes 20 large state vans that transport about 250 state employees back and forth to Topeka from Lawrence, the Kansas City area and other locations.

The Kansas Department of Administration said the program wasn’t self-sufficient, and argued the state shouldn’t be in the business of running a commuter line because of the liability involved and the fact it hurt private competitors.

But van-pool riders fought back, enlisting the aid of local legislators.

Reps. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, and Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, managed to push through the legislation that now is headed to Sebelius’ desk for consideration.

Sebelius then backed off her original stance, saying if the Legislature approved the program, it was OK with her.

Still, her administration department is unhappy with the bill.

Committee stalls van-pool proposal (3-9-04) Van-pool riders encourage legislators to keep program (2-19-04) Sebelius answers van-pool critics (1-22-04) Car pooling? (8-15-03) Car pooling has pluses, negatives, riders say (10-14-01) Frequently asked questions about Vanpool

Caleb Asher, a spokesman for the department, said some private rental companies had expressed interest in running the van pool. Now, he said, the bill would make it difficult to do that because the Legislature would have to be involved if the administration wanted to privatize the service.

Asher said the department wasn’t recommending Sebelius veto the legislation, but that it “will provide the governor what we have.”

Rezayazdi, an estimating engineer with the Kansas Department of Transportation, said if a private company took over the van pool, the ride would be more expensive.

“They are going to tack on their profits along with the actual cost of running the program,” he said.

He said commuters on the Lawrence-to-Topeka route already paid $53 per month, and that is expected to increase soon because the administration had earlier said van-pool riders weren’t paying enough to keep the program self-sufficient.