To the editor:

I work for the Kansas Department of Transportation and commute from Lawrence to Topeka every day. It’s a choice I make. I think it’s absurd to think that the taxpayers of the state of Kansas should be responsible for providing me transportation to get me to my job because of where I choose to live.

Since this van-pool issue arose, I would like to know what percentage of the workday some state of Kansas employees have spent addressing the van-pool issue rather than performing the duties they are being paid to handle. Last time I checked, driving a state van pool was not a paid occupation.

I have repeatedly been to business meetings and conferences where the riders/drivers leave early because they have to get to the van pool and do not make other arrangements. Others leave 15 minutes early every day because they drive a van.

This too is costing the state of Kansas taxpayers, because they are paying a salary for an individual to perform their job, not provide a transportation service or solve a personal transportation problem during business hours.

I do not know if the van pool does or doesn’t pay for itself, but at least factor in all the costs that go into the van pool (interest, administration, time away from work spent on van-pool business, etc.).

Of all the stupid “money saving cuts” made recently that seem to be smoke and mirrors, this one seems to have the best shot at actually saving money.

Lee Ann Legge,

Lawrence