To the editor:

You see “M-T” (empty) buses. You see them every day as you hurry on your daily errands. The buses are huge for carrying a few or no people. You haven’t figured out the bus routes because you haven’t had the time or the need to do so.

First, let me talk about the perceived BIG buses. You are driving down the busy arterial highway. You get behind a bus. You are irritated at the progress you will be making behind the bus stopping to pick up and let off passengers. If it takes a passenger more than a few seconds to get on or off the bus, it is too long.

Now the empty bus. Maybe you rode a bus to school. The bus started out empty. By the time it reached the school, it was full. So in seeing the empty buses, is it possible you are seeing it at the beginning of the route or as it pulls into the “bus garage” at the end of its route? Is it possible that people could have gotten on and off the bus unobserved by you?

I am happy you haven’t had to take the time to figure out the bus routes. I am happy you haven’t had to take a bus ride that would triple your travel time to your destinations. There are more than a few people in your community that depend on this system to get to work. I am asking you to vote yes on Questions 2 and 3 to support the many invisible riders that rely on this improvable system.

Kathy Stoughton,
Lawrence