“Why is Laketran buying new fareboxes? They can’t even run buses on Saturdays!”

It’s a sentiment I’ve seen on this Web site and one you’ve probably heard on the bus, if you ride it. It’s not just related to the fareboxes, though. People say this almost every time Laketran makes a move, be it obtaining federal grants, buying new buses with said grants, updating its scheduling system or announcing that it is nearing a balanced budget.

The problem is how misinformed those statements are.

To read more, click here.

Any questions asked in this post were answered this week.

People are vexed, fuming and have had it up to here.

One woman even called Laketran’s financial recovery plan the “degradation of society.”

They’re hot because the public transportation system they partially fund through a levy wants to raise fares for the second consecutive year, and slash several services at the same time. Both sides of the battle have merit. Laketran has received a 44 percent decrease in state funding since the onset of this decade.

The agency also fights off the stigma that the $3.6 million it got from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can be used for operating expenses. Instead, it can be spent only on capital projects, like purchasing buses, vans and other equipment.

However, the riders have valid points, too. The agency wants to cut Saturday service altogether, along with weekday service after 7 p.m. Most of Laketran’s customers seem to understand that declining state and federal aid, along with low sales tax revenue brought on by the recession, have put the system in a tough spot. Still, they believe a resolution could be met that helps Laketran fight the storm, but doesn’t completely alter their own schedules. They fear being unable to get to work on Saturdays, losing the ability to go shopping on the weekend, or even worse, getting to dialysis and other medical appointments.

“I know (Laketran) is in a jammer, there’s no doubt in my mind, but some of these people need help,” Barry Feathers, a blind Willoughby resident who takes Laketran to his concession-stand job at the Lake County Common Pleas Court in Painesville., said at the hearing Tuesday in Mentor.

“I like the job, but if you knew what I was making, you’d think I was crazy or just wasting time,” he said. “I do like the people I meet, and I know I’m not the only one, so I’m hoping something can be done ... I may be selfish, but I want to go to work.”

There were several others who spoke and had this in common with Barry: They have disabilities, so they enjoy using a transit system that’s in touch with their needs. If fares continue rising, they worry that their means of livelihood, health and recreation will be threatened.

Organizations like the Lake County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services board were well-represented and voiced similar concerns.

As pointed out in this story, though, the Mentor hearing briefly turned ugly when commuters and disabled users of Dial-a-Ride began lobbying for Laketran to apply higher increases to services used more by the other group. That turned the event into a “we deserve it more” party. General Manager Raymond Jurkowski and Board President J. Terrell Dillard quickly tapered that talk, declaring that “we’re all in this together.”

It will be interesting to see if this continues tonight in Painesville. Since Laketran’s goals going into the hearings were to help the constituency understand the economic problem and convince them to petition legislators to better fund public transit systems, officials can’t be pleased with that type of bickering.

It’s OK and well within riders’ rights to suggest that Laketran officials might not be doing everything in its power to prevent these cuts. But trying to take service away from other segments of the agency’s ridership won’t accomplish much. Tightening up routes, staff cuts and half-day service on Saturdays, as hearing attendees have suggested, might all be better options that could save some money and not pit riders against one another.

-- Brandon C. Baker

Photo: Jeff Forman

It’s hard to know what to expect at tonight’s Laketran public hearing, the first of four regarding the agency’s fare increases and service cuts. Picket signs and protest or crickets?

It’s been two weeks since the agency announced a plethora of changes, including a $1 increase in Commuter Express rides, a bump from $6 to $13 for Dial-a-Ride, and the complete elimination of Saturday services. With that type of proposal on the table, in addition to more increases next year, complaints have piled. Will they be repeated tonight at the Perry Public Library?

You would think so. After all, some believe Laketran should have consoled voters before its board of trustees approved the “financial recovery plan,” while others have even alleged that it’s about greed instead of a dwindling economy. This story has more than 50 comments, many of them angry over the proposal that will hurt wallets and alter schedules.

That surely sounds like a recipe for dozens of furious riders showing up tonight to voice displeasure. But consider last year when Laketran announced a 50 cent increase for Commuter Express and a $2 rise for Dial-a-Ride. I could count on one hand the amount of people who attended the meeting I went to at the Willoughby Public Library.

I didn’t make it to the others, and transcripts revealed more attendees, but they in no way approached the number of calls, e-mails and story comments I viewed prior to the hearings. Simply put, if you’re angry, step up. Otherwise, what can you really say?

It’s true that Board President J. Terrell Dillard said deviation from the original proposal isn’t likely (the board will vote on it in May), but what will Laketran do if riders come out in record numbers? I really doubt they would disregard that and move on as planned. A compromise could be reached.

However, some won’t find out if they’re just content writing comments on News-Herald stories after the fact.

--Brandon C. Baker

Photo: Maribeth Joeright