City Utilities receives grant for bus routes

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Helping people get to and from work is the idea behind a recent grant awarded to City Utilities of Springfield.|ret||ret||tab|

Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt announced the release of a $643,000 federal Job Access and Reverse Commute grant to help CU maintain three bus routes that workers regularly use. Grants were awarded on a competitive basis by the U.S. Department of Transportation.|ret||ret||tab|

"We realize we were fortunate to get this grant," said Carol Cruise, CU's director of transportation services. "You're competing with other transit systems all across the United States and so there is never a guarantee."|ret||ret||tab|

Dan Wadlington, spokesman for Blunt, said the grant is a 50/50 matching grant that matches local funds already dedicated to the project. Cruise said this grant was developed during the Clinton administration as a way to assist low-income wage earners and welfare recipients get to work and access other employment-related services.|ret||ret||tab|

The Springfield portion of the grant will pay for half of the operating cost for 2002 and 2003 for Routes 8, 10 and 11. Routes 8 and 10 provide services to North Town Mall, Springfield Airport and Norton Road. Route 11 provides service to The Library Center and for passengers living on Ingram Mill between Sunshine Street and Battlefield Road. During 2002, 112,461 riders used the three routes. The popularity of the routes is one of the reasons CU was awarded the grant.|ret||ret||tab|

Both Routes 8 and 10 are on an 18-month trial-run period. Routes are on trial-run status if a change is made to the route. A major change for Route 8 came in January 2002 when CU added service to the airport. |ret||ret||tab|

"People, when they moved to Springfield, would call City Utilities transit and inquire about bus service to the airport, and before January of 2002 we'd have to say, We don't have service at the airport.' (They would say) What? A city of this size needs to have bus service to the airport!'" Cruise said.|ret||ret||tab|

Due to numerous requests for service, CU decided to add the airport stop to Route 8 to help assist workers in the area.|ret||ret||tab|

Cruise said CU monitors and tweaks bus routes throughout the year in an effort to increase ridership. In 2002, more than 1.5 million people rode the bus, which is the highest ridership has been since the early 1980s, Cruise said.|ret||ret||tab|

"City Utilities has been providing reliable and safe transportation to Springfield, Missouri, for many years, a track record made possible because of ongoing efforts to improve our transit system," said John Twitty, CU general manager and CEO. |ret||ret||tab|

By providing services for special events and continuing to evaluate the transit system, Cruise said, CU hopes to continue to increase ridership.|ret||ret||tab|

"Our goal, really, is to be a community asset and to hopefully make people feel good about paying for the system," Cruise said. "We recognize the electric and gas rate payers pay for us and many of them don't use us so we need to make sure everyone feels good about what we are doing."|ret||ret||tab|

For fiscal year 2002, operating costs for the transit system were $5.68 million, according to Cruise. The system brought in $497,000 in fares, $68,162 in advertising income and $1.89 million from grants. The remaining $3.23 million was picked up by City Utilities customers.|ret||ret||tab|

"When the utility was formed in 1945 the citizens of Springfield voted to purchase the electric, gas and transit systems and operate them as a utility company. The transit system made more than the electric department at that time. And one time years and years ago, we were profitable," Cruise said. According to Cruise, no public transit system in the United States makes money.|ret||ret||tab|

Bus fare is 75 cents per ride and $1.50 for an all-day pass. Cruise said fares are likely to increase slightly in the future, but no plans are set for this year.|ret||ret||tab|

"We need to raise the fare. The last time it was in 1997; before that it was in 1983.|ret||ret||tab|

It also was announced March 11 that City Utilities would receive $672,000 in federal funds for fiscal year 2003 for renovation of the transit facility. Sen. Kit Bond helped secure more than $5 milllion in federal funds for Missouri transit projects, including the Springfield project.|ret||ret||tab|

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