T needed

To the editor:

When I started working at Independence Inc. 16 years ago, our staff and consumers had already been advocating for many years, trying to get the city to fund public transportation. As the years went by, the demand for transportation got so great that consumers had to call at least a week in advance to reserve a spot on the Independence Inc. buses.

In 1997, the city finally funded the Douglas County Area Transit (DCAT), a paratransit service, and that helped a lot, but, as the word got out, eventually this service also became overwhelmed with demands for rides.

At one point, the three transportation services (Independence Inc., Douglas County Senior Services and DCAT) pooled their resources and purchased a computer program to coordinate their rides. So rides were provided according to neighborhood rather than the populations being served. This increased efficiency and, for a while, the supply was meeting the demand – but only for a while. Once again, as time went on, the demand for rides far exceeded the availability.

Because we kept outgrowing our available transportation, the city finally funded the T and the T-Lift. The T was created, not as a luxury, but out of an incredible need.

Please vote “yes” on Questions 2 and 3 on the Nov. 4 ballot to save the much-needed T. Otherwise, hundreds of Lawrence citizens will be faced with a completely impossible situation.

Susan Miller,
Eudora