DA Bus

DA Bus! DA Bus!

There’s nothing but controversy about nearly every action, or inaction, done by the Hernando County BOCC, although there is one exception – the invocation prior to public hearings and the honors, accommodations and acknowledgement of various do-gooders. It sweetens the tone of most other topics. It's the dessert before the main discourse.

In this instance, THE Bus is going through its latest round of condemnation, primarily by conscientious citizens looking for ways to get as much of THE Crap out of wasteful County Government liabilities. This viewpoint is selective in nature, inconsiderate of those who have a valid need for the service.

Elderly residents might be the primary benefactors of THE Bus, an important means for them to get to a doctor’s appointment, pick up a prescription, get groceries or visit a friend or relative. I’ll wager to it is the only option for many. Even though there may be an occasional “free ride” from a friend, neighbor or relative, the reliance on an offer can’t realistically be guaranteed. An illness, an emergency or car trouble would be valid reasons for the driver to find it unavoidable but to renege on the promise.

The poor person would, more than likely, suspect something other than honesty from the driver. An excuse or a lie might be an accusation. An upset, distraught reaction may accompany an emotional outburst with the words, “What am I gonna do?!!?” Tears and depression would be a sad result.

Case in point: elderly citizens must have reliable public transportation. They may also be among the number of indigent people of any age.

What of those who are in a situation that relies on THE Bus just to get to work? An employer isn’t likely to be understanding of repeated incidents of being late or a no-show. Lost wages would be bad in itself; the loss of the job is the ultimate result.

Not everyone can afford to own his or her own transportation. The expense of maintaining a car does nothing but increase; gasoline prices will forever more be in excess of three bucks a gallon and sure to rise.

There are a good number of people trying to get their lives back in respectable order after being cited for possession of drugs, driving while intoxicated or multiple traffic violations of various natures. Perhaps jail time has resulted from whatever infraction occurred. A person can’t get his or her life back in order if they have no means of transport. Again, getting to work is a primary cause of concern; making it to the appointed day and time to check in with a probation officer is paramount. THE Bus may be their last chance at social redemption.

Public transportation in any community is of necessity. Being realistic about the use of such a system determines the success with which it is operated. Somewhere along the way, Hernando County was poorly served with whatever needs-based assessments were used to evaluate the scope of validity of the service.

The size of THE Buses has proven to be a faux pas, a poor judgment in planning. When the number of riders are, at best, a handful, projections of use were way out of line. It's annoying to hear repeated stories telling the tale of two riders yet some residents have also issued concerns (complaints) that the schedules and routes are inadequate.

It appears federal, state and county grants and funding have been mismanaged.

This may be an often-suggested alternative to the current operation of THE Bus system but, under the circumstances, consideration should be given to downsizing, or rightsizing, the scope of providing public transportation.

Providing an appropriate transportation network should be centered on putting more cost effective vehicles on the roads. It makes sense to put in service mini-buses, more in the line of vans that would accommodate, perhaps, a dozen riders. The savings would be immense, the possibility of offering additional routes could follow. An ad campaign with a slogan of We’ll take you there!, coupled with existing commercial advertising would supplement a reasonable schedule of fares. If possible, existing buses could be leased out, or used for special events such as the County Fair.

Current routing doesn’t provide service along Elgin Boulevard, whereby it could be deemed a viable connector from Deltona eastward to Mariner. This could be incorporated to extend service on Deltona from Northcliffe to Cortez. The existing gap is very noticable. Another possible extension would be along Elgin Blvd/Powell Road to Broad Street. County Line Road has yet to be established a route.

Of course, whatever information I was able to obtain from the Web may not be current. At www.hernandobus.com the latest schedules (Blue, Red, Green and Brooksville Routes) were dated April 2, 2006 although on the same site there is information suggesting a revision of services were to be implemented April 2, 2007.

Keeping thing in perspective, the future importance of THE Bus in Hernando County could be brought to light by Commissioner Dave Russell.

Mr. Russell is a board member on a newly established mass transit initiative to establish connector routes along different corridors (connector routes) within Citrus, Hernando, Hillsboro, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota Counties. It's more of an honorary position when consideration is given that whatever is to be for Hernando County will be long in coming - very long in coming. Not in our lifetimes.

[You may as well become familiar with the term CORRIDOR, as it has become an often-used word to enhance the meaning and impact of establishing new or improved routes. It is a buzzword for international, national, statewide and local future upgrades to established roads and planned roads alike.]

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority is being funded with $20-million by the Florida Department of Transportation for technical assistance to that TBARTA can complete a Regional Transportation Master Plan with public engagement activities and early corridor studies. The Master Plan has a target date of July 1, 2009, to be presented to the FDOT.

In Hernando County, the corridors are Suncoast Parkway originating in Crystal River in Citrus County south to , and U.S. Highway 19 to Highway 50 into Brooksville. A new corridor shows a route from Brooksville to Dade City to Lakeland.

U.S. 41 is designated as a Freight Rail Corridor, which is just one of many routes along the tracks of CSX.

{Nowhere in these plans is there a reference to incorporate Highway 50 as a corridor from Hernando to Orange County. This route would be of greater impact than taking the simplistic view of Hernando continuously relying on Tampa for whatever growth opportunities may be allowed to come our way.}

Hernando County is destined to remain a melting pot of subdivisions and retail stores and the sooner everyone (including myself) accepts that fate, the sooner those who dislike this type of master planning will pick up and move elsewhere. Northeast Hernando County will take many years before it is engulfed with mass destruction by construction.

Facts, figures and much more information about TBARTA are available at www.tbarta.com.

So when you talk about THE Bus, we can expect Commissioner Russell to educate and keep Hernando County informed on what is in store with public transportation in Hernando County.

No one should expect THE Bus to come to a halt, although its full importance has yet to be realized.

Perhaps THE Buses can be stored for future use when transportation needs equal the degree of ridership. For now, DA Van appears to be a more appropriate means to meet current needs.