When the Public Transit Advisory Committee met on July 12, half of the members failed to show up, so the committee couldn’t officially make any decisions. The same thing happened in March, which means that one-third of PTAC’s bimonthly meetings accomplished nothing this year.

The transit system is funded primarily by a 0.25 percent city sales tax that collects approximately $4 million per year (bus fare boxes only bring in about $400,000), and that sales tax is set to sunset in 2019. The city is almost certainly going to propose a referendum to renew the sales tax concurrent with the municipal elections in 2017.

In other words, 2017 will be the most significant year for Lawrence Public Transit since the system began, and the people in charge can’t be bothered to meet even six times a year. If the city is serious about ensuring the survival of our excellent public transit system, they need to get the PTAC back on track and show Lawrencians that our money is well-spent.