HERALD EDITORIAL: Kalamazoo public transportation may no longer be available for the public

Public transportation is as common as McDonalds; every city has one and it is hard to imagine otherwise especially in a city that holds three colleges.

The Kalamazoo Metro Transit attempted to pass a millage in this past November’s election.

Unfortunately, it did not pass, which would be the first time since 1985 that they have lost.

They have four possible dates to have the community vote again to have the millage passed.
Essentially what this means is that if the millage does not get passed public transportation will be eliminated.

“There are about 3.1 million rides used each year and within the last six months 140,000 new trips have been increased,” said William Schomisch, executive director of The Kalamazoo Metro Transit.
Part of a contract with Western Michigan University and Metro Transit is that students get to ride the bus for free at anytime of the year.

With as much as it costs for a parking pass it is convenient and smart to use public transportation, when available.

For some students and Kalamazoo citizens it is their only means of transportation to school, work and around the city.

If the millage is not passed and funding does not show up then these students and citizens will be left with no way to provide for themselves.

If there isn’t a way for people to get to work then they won’t get paid, which means the already failing economy would plummet even further.

It is understandable that people would be hesitant to vote for a millage in the shape of the economy.

Some people feel that it shouldn’t be passed because they don’t use public transportation.

However, there is a great deal of people who do and it is nice to know that if your car breaks down or you are in desperate need of transportation or even need a safe ride home, public transportation is there.

The Metro Transit runs Monday to Saturday 6 a.m. to 10:15 p.m.

“We are unable to offer service on Sundays or later than 10:15 p.m. because we simply can not afford it.  We would like to be able to offer these services but can’t until the funds are available,” said Schomisch.

Public transportation is important to the Kalamazoo community.  It would be strange to not see the big white buses passing by everyday.

If anyone would like to get involved to further campaign for public transportation to still be available please contact William Schomisch at 269-337-8233.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=2771

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Dec 4 2008. Filed under Editorial, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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