[Nfbmo] The bus Saga Continues.
DanFlasar at aol.com
DanFlasar at aol.com
Mon Feb 18 17:41:19 UTC 2013
I agree - see you all there.
In a message dated 2/18/2013 9:32:25 A.M. Central Standard Time,
gwunder at earthlink.net writes:
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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