[Nfbmo] The bus Saga Continues.

Gary Wunder gwunder at earthlink.net
Mon Feb 18 15:30:09 UTC 2013 

Dear friends:

The wheels on the bus go round and round, and it looks like that's what
we're doing on this issue.  Several of you have written to me off list to
suggest that I stop this thread.  I have some sympathy for that, but then IC
posts which follow where the people asking that it stop make their own
contributions.

I think we want active discussion on this list, but I would suggest that the
discussion we have here has gone far beyond talking about buses and bus
schedules.  If we're going to change the subject, let's do it in the subject
line.

For those of you who are new to the list, you should know that David Andrews
is the moderator of all NFB lists.  This includes the list for the National
Federation of the Blind of Missouri.  Shelia Wright is the specific
moderator for this list.  If you have thoughts or problems about what is on
the list, let her know.  I urge you to treat Dave with gentleness and
kindness.  He has monitored these list for more than 20 years, and I suspect
it is not an overstatement to say that he has seen 100,000 messages.  His
job is to see that things remain civil, that people are not pushed away by
what they see here, that topics have a good airing, but don't go on so long
that people unsubscribe because they are simply tired of them.  What he does
is tiring work: not the kind one ever gets a reward for doing.  Seldom does
anyone tell him thank you for the fact that he moderates this list and
probably almost 100 more.

I hope to see many of you in Jefferson City for the seminar on Tuesday and
Wednesday.  All of us have opinions, and the Jefferson City seminar is the
way we get to act on them.  Rehabilitation services for the blind is at
significant risk of not being funded at levels that we have become
accustomed to seeing.  They will not get money from the blind pension fund
this year, and for the first time in a long time we will be asking for
general revenue.  It is important that we have a right to vote with a secret
ballot in all elections, not just the federal ones.  Our blind children need
to be getting good braille skills, and we need to see that there is still an
avenue to pursue grievances if we are discriminated against in employment.
Let's take some of this bus energy and deliver it to the legislature.

Warmly,

Gary



-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of James Moynihan
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 9:18 AM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] The bus Saga Continues.

Dan

Free market capitalism is the way to go. That is what made America great.

Cordially,

Jim Moynihan

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <DanFlasar at aol.com>
To: <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2013 3:38 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] The bus Saga Continues.


> So much for the idea that the Free Market solves all problems.
>
>    Without intervention by the will of the people   (ie, our government),
> free market capitalism leads inexorably to monopoly -  which is why
> government has had to intervene so continuously over the years  - which 
> leads to too
> much regulation which leads to too much deregulation  which leads to...
> You'd think we'd remember this.
> Dan
>
>
>
> In a message dated 2/15/2013 3:25:42 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> dickmorris at netzero.net writes:
>
> Matt and  Gary,
>
> At least Springfield and Columbia have bus stations in town!  Matt, I 
> don't
> know about where you are. But here in Tahlequah, the bus  depot sits
> abandoned; I don't know when the last bus rolled through here,  but it was
> before I came in 2004. Our closest bus station is Muskogee,  about 25 
> miles
> away, and taking a bus from there is like flying out of  Springfield, in
> that
> you'll go to a "hub" city like Tulsa or OKC and  change there. And Tulsa 
> is
> sixty miles from here.
>
> Isn't  deregulation wonderful? Just for grins, if you want an analysis of
> what  deregulation has done to the airline industry, read Thomas
> Petzinger's
> Hard Landing. Petzinger writes for the Wall Street Journal, and the book
> is
> both interesting and  readable.
>
> Dick
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From:  "Matt Sievert" <matt.sievert at gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 15,  2013 3:10 PM
> To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List"  <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] The bus Saga  Continues.
>
> Now,
>
> Megabus and the michigan flyer have all been  successes.
>
> Matt
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Gary Wunder"  <gwunder at earthlink.net>
> Sender: "Nfbmo"  <nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:03:59
> To:  'NFB of Missouri Mailing List'<nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: NFB of  Missouri Mailing List <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] The bus  Saga Continues.
>
> When I sometimes ride the bus I get the impression they  will run their
> busses until they run no more and then they'll stop serving  us all
> together.
> It is not the service-oriented company I used to ride  regularly.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nfbmo  [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dick Morris
> Sent: Friday,  February 15, 2013 12:59 PM
> To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
> Subject: Re:  [Nfbmo] The bus Saga Continues.
>
> Matt, the big problem with Greyhound is  that they have had no real
> competition ever since they acquired Continental  Trailways in the early
> 90s,
> and thereby gutted the Trailways network. It  reminds me of the old, 
> before
> the breakup, AT&T commercial slogan, "We  may be the only phone company in
> town, but we try not to act like it." Epic  fail on the parts of both AT&T
> and Greyhound.
>
> Speaking of lack  of competition, think of what air travel will be like 
> once
> American and  USAir complete their  merger.
>
> Dick
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From:  "Matt Sievert" <matt.sievert at gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 15,  2013 7:40 AM
> To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List"  <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] The bus Saga  Continues.
>
> Dick,
>
> Thank you for correcting me. Mrs. Cruise did  the best she could with the
> bus
> system. She even ran multiple buses on the  same route during holiday
> weekends, because the mall was so backed up. I  never used access express,
> because I didn't qualify, so I can't speak for  that service.
>
> As for Norna Champion. She has a school and a park named  after her.
>
> Greyhound is horrible for everyone. For blind people, for 
> servicemen/women
> going to Fort Leonard, and everyone in  between.
>
> Greyhound drives me to be a more successful person. So I can  bypass that
> nastyness, by prtivate leased car trips or airline  travel.
>
> I will NEVER advocate greyhound to anyone. They really don't  care about
> their customers.
>
>
>
> -----Original  Message-----
> From: "Dick Morris" <dickmorris at netzero.net>
> Sender:  "Nfbmo" <nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013  03:45:09
> To: NFB of Missouri Mailing  List<nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List  <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] The bus Saga  Continues.
>
> Matt, her name is Carol Cruise, and she has retired--but she  was always
> willing to listen to her customers. From what Gary tells me, the  buses 
> are
> full now, probably thanks to $3 gasoline.
>
> But...you are  absolutely right about the "second class citizen" attitude.
> Maybe you  remember Dr. Norma Champion. I had her in several classes at
> Evangel when I  got my communications degree back in the dark ages. As a
> state senator,  well...I was at a Jeff City seminar, I forget which year,
> and
> of course I  met with her to push NFB issues. One was a transit issue, and
> her response  was that public transit was for "someone like you". I think 
> I
> bit my tongue  till it bled. She was losing her vision due to macular
> degeneration, but I  never could get her to see our side of things. Sad 
> but
> true.
>
> And  which Greyhound station were you referring to? The old one on St. 
> Louis
> or  the new one on East Kearney? My problems were more with rude 
> Greyhound
> drivers than anything else, but the last time I rode the bus,  about a 
> year
> ago, I had a good experience--except for a bus that was three  hours late.
> Oh, well...can't have  everything.
>
> Dick
> --------------------------------------------------
> From:  "Matt Sievert" <matt.sievert at gmail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, February 14,  2013 8:11 PM
> To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List"  <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] The bus Saga  Continues.
>
> Sigh,
>
> I am glad I am not in  Springfield.
>
> Public Transportation in Springfield, Missouri has always  been a
> "second-class" citizen issue. "only poor people and the elderly ride  the
> bus." is what I heard from most folks.
>
> Also seeing empty buses  driving around town didn't help any either.
>
> Mary Cruse did a lot to  help out the transit issue. I don't know where 
> she
> went, but obviously by  Gary's, account, things have not improved.
>
> The only thing worse in  Springfield, Mo than the public transit system, 
> is
> the Greyhound  station.
>
> My primary means of transportation in Springfield, Mo was a  cab or 
> walking.
> Only when I worked at St. John's was the bus useful, that  is because the 
> #2
> S. National went past the hospital on weekdays, and the  #5 went by on
> weekends. Besides that, the bus was a headache I did not  want.
>
> Matt Sievert
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 9:02 PM, Dick  Morris <dickmorris at netzero.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Good job, Erin and  Gary! I wish I were still in Springfield so I could 
>> be
>> part of this.  You're dooing the right thing in trying to garner
> publicity;
>> sometimes  the only way to get action is to embarrass somebody. Go for
> it!
>>
>> Dick
>>
>>  --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Magoon Erin"  <magoone at gary-springfield-mo.net>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 14,  2013 6:11 PM
>> To: <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: [Nfbmo] The  bus Saga Continues.
>>
>> The Bus Saga Continues.
>>
>>  Gary and I went to the City Council meeting on Monday.  He spoke about
> the
>> fixed route buses and I spoke about Access Express.  Access  is the
>> para-transit door to door service that I'm riding for now  because of my
>> surgery last October.
>>
>> It is getting  pretty rediculous trying to get a ride on Access.  They
> will
>> only  let you schedule a ride up to one week in advance and it's getting
>>  difficult to do so.  They also have a 20 minute window either side of
> your
>> pick-up to come and get you.  I had a pickup at 6:00 pm and  they didn't
>> have
>> the person come on duty who was going to get  me until 5:55 so he didn't
>> arrive until 6:20.
>>
>> I had  another person drop me off at the wrong entrance to my building in
>>  my
>> apaartment complex. I couldn't get a ride home from my job  developer
> until
>> two hours after the end of my appointment.  I  couldn't get a ride home
>> from
>> the gym at all, I could get  there but not home.  I also called one week
> in
>> advance of the  City Council meeting to schedule my ride.  I scheduled it
>>  for
>> 10:30 pm because I didn't know how long the meeting would go and  they 
>> set
>> it
>> up.  The lady called me back ten minutes  later and said she looked at 
>> the
>> schedule wrong.  "It's written  in military time and I have trouble
> reading
>> and understanding  it.  The latest we can get you is 8:30 not 10:30."
>>
>> I told  the Council most of what I've just told you and they sent the
>>  following questions to City Utilities telling them they wanted answers
> by
>> Friday, February 22.
>>
>> 1. Why did you make the bus  route changes?
>> 2. Why didn't you have the schedules and maps ready  before the changes
>> took
>> effect?
>> 3. Why didn't you hold  a public hearing or have public comments before
> you
>> made the  changes?
>> 4. Why did the routes change 3 and 4 times after you made the  original
>> changes?
>> 5. Is it true that you didn't want the  passengers to know the changes
> were
>> coming? If so, why not?
>> 6.  Why are people having so many difficulties scheduling an Access
> Express
>> ride 6 and 7 days in advance?
>>
>> I called the  City Council yesterday to find out what was the next step,
>> that's when  I got told those questions were sent to City Utilities and 
>> as
>> soon as  they received a response they'd call me.
>>
>> Today a reporter from  The Springfield Newsleader called.  He talked to
>> both
>> me  and Gary about what has been going on.  I told him all about Access
> and
>> that some of the buses arrive downtown five minutes early now  because of
>> the
>> new schedule, and the bus route that was added  sits in the Social
> Security
>> parking lot for 15 minutes.  No one  has explained why this is.
>>
>> The paper got a report from City  Utilities telling them that the number
> of
>> riders on Access has  increased and that they have 5 buses.  I told the
>> reporter that  several people I have spoken to said they are taking 
>> Access
>> because of  all the route changes.
>>
>> He said that City Utilities has  responded to City Council and said: "We
>> should have had the bus maps  and schedules available when we made the
>> route
>> changes, we  will hold public hearings in the future for any change we
> want
>> to make  whether it's small or big."
>>
>> I noticed that they didn't answer  any of the questions City Council
> asked.
>>
>> The article is  supposed to run in tomorrow's paper.  I hope it makes a
>>  difference.
>>
>>  _______________________________________________
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