On Sept. 12th, BikeWalkLee sent a letter to BoCC members opposing the proposed transit service
cuts. The Board will discuss this proposal at its Monday's (9/16) M and P meeting (1:30 p.m.). Then on Wed, 9/18) there's one last opportunity for
public input at the final public hearing on the budget, which starts
at 5:05 p.m. in the commission chambers.
Immediately following the public comment period, the BoCC will vote to
adopt the final budget. Let the commissioners know now that transit is important to this community and urge them to reject these proposed service cuts!
Updates:
9/20/13--Lee MPO Board discussion
At the Sept. 20th MPO Board meeting, BikeWalkLee's
Dan Moser and Margaret Banyan continued to raise our concerns about the impact
of this decision on the MPO's commitment to a balanced multi-modal
transportation system, and recommended the creation of a transit authority.
Fort Myers City Councilmember, Mike Flanders,
requested that the MPO Board be updated on the transit authority issue at its
November meeting, and this was agreed to by the Board. During the LeeTran monthly report to the MPO
Board, Steve Myers said that LeeTran will be monitoring the impacts of reduced
services and will monitor ridership on those routes with reduced evening
services and will report back to the BoCC.
Thanks to all the citizens and organizations who wrote the commissioners and spoke at the two public hearings in support of maintaining LeeTran services and routes.
9/19/13--Final BoCC Action
On 9/18/13, Lee BoCC voted to retain the proposed transit service cuts and adopted the budget for next year (vote 4-1).
News-Press article 9/19/13: "With reservations, Lee County budget OK'd"
News-Press article 9/17/13: "LeeTran needs miracles to keep all service"
Naples Daily News article 9/4/13: Lee commissioners: FGCU's lone Lee Tran route stays
September 12, 2013
Lee County Board of Commissioners
2120 SW Main Street
Fort Myers, FL 33901
Dear Commissioners:
BikeWalkLee opposes the proposed $500,000 in reduction to
the LeeTran budget and the accompanying service reductions, effectively halving
evening and weekend service and extending intervals between buses to as long as
2 hours. Not only would such cuts be counter to all previous BoCC actions, but
this current proposal represents poor business decision making, and lacks
fiscal sense.
Analysis of current and future revenue sources indicates
that for every dollar cut from LeeTrans’s budget in order to ‘save’ money the
County will actually lose an equal amount of outside funding – a senseless
dollar-for-dollar loss.
We all know of the
enormous and sustained increases in LeeTran ridership, and we also know of the
numerous state-wide and national recognitions awarded to LeeTran - probably
more numerous than any single department within Lee County.
With each quarterly report we heard new statistics
profiling LeeTran’s extraordinary successes - not once in a while, but
consistently and repeatedly. This success didn’t happen by chance, but was the
result of thoughtful planning and committed work on the part of the BoCC and
county staff.
With an annual budget of only $13 million LeeTran was
awarded:
·
$20
million in federal discretionary money
·
nearly
another $7 million in federal ARRA grant money
·
and named The Florida Transit System of the Year in
2012, recognition for system wide performance
These awards were based on LeeTran’s excellence in
business planning and implementation, backed by the BoCC’s stalwart commitment
to hold transit harmless. These merit-based awards required no county matching
funds and were in addition to the significant state funding from FDOT.
Not only has LeeTran garnered far more than its share of
awards, grants and accolades, its success is very much a part of this County’s
overall transportation system – a system that serves all resident not just
those with ready access to cars.
LeeTran’s strong business practices and its integral role
in our county’s complete streets program have enabled success to build upon
success in the awarding of a number of other community betterment grants to Lee
County. Just the latest example of this is the USDOT TIGER grant, a portion of
which is designated to fund LeeTran infrastructure, furthering successful
multi-modal system integration and service delivery to the residents of Lee
County.
The functional viability of any transit system hinges on
two primary qualities: 1) punctuality or
reliability and 2) the waiting time between buses or headway time. Making these
indefensible cutbacks in service, as reflected in the enormous headway
extensions after 6:00 p.m. and on Saturday, will thoroughly undermine the
system and preclude future success. This is not a sound business-sense
approach. This is a starvation mechanism that will weaken the entire transit
system, eventually driving it to substandard performance with decline in
efficiency and ridership, virtually guaranteeing a very poor outcome.
Transit is most akin to public utilities such as water
and power; its integrity rests in the continuity of access. Unlike some other
government expenses, the nature of a transit system cannot accommodate stopping
and starting of service without long-term, wholesale functional damage.
LeeTran’s success is a vital part of this area’s growing
reputation as one that is on a clear path to a more sustainable, livable,
high-quality of life, making Lee County and SW Florida an internationally
appealing place to live, conduct business and thrive.
How wise is it for government to now step in to undermine
(inadvertently or not) the integrity of LeeTran’s ability to remain a viable
service provider? BikeWalkLee believes this is a profoundly ill-conceived
business decision. The projected financial savings of only $500,000 will
translate into a substantially greater and enduring loss for Lee County.
Sincerely,
/s/Ann Pierce
on behalf of
BikeWalkLee
Attachment: BikeWalkLee’s letter of June 18, 2013
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