Bus riders plead for change of heart

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BY SUSAN BROWN
sbrown@nwitimes.com
219.836.3780 | Friday, December 05, 2008 | (14 comment(s))

HAMMOND | Despite icy conditions and next to no parking, more than 30 residents, many of them disabled, attended Thursday's public hearing on the reduction in service by Hammond Transit.

Transit Director Keith Matasovsky launched the hearing by explaining how the reductions, set to begin in January, were determined. The service ends July 1 should there be no rescue by the General Assembly.

Axed in Hammond was all Saturday service. Route 1, the most traveled in the city, will run only on a hourly basis. It includes stops at the Horseshoe Casino and the Hammond Marina, running from 106th and Ewing in Chicago and winding through Hammond and Whiting before picking up Calumet Avenue into Munster.

Matasovsky said Saturday ridership includes 60 percent of those who use the bus on weekdays. Eliminating the half-hour routes on Route 1 aligns the route with the others in the city. The question became who are you going to hurt the least, he later said.

The cuts were made necessary by the passage of House Bill 1001, the property tax relief legislation that has led to spending cuts in local government, Matasovsky said. "Hammond is feeling the pain of those cuts," he said.

Matasovsky said he had been led to expect the City Council would approve one more year of operation, but instead it cut the service from next year's budget. When the council met Nov. 17, it passed an ordinance funding the service with $400,000 in gaming dollars ending in June.

The reductions achieved cutting $200,000 from the budget in order to be able to operate within the $400,000 limit, he said. The fund will not be replenished if the department falls short of being able to operate through June.

With the decision appearing to be final, several attendees questioned why the public hearing was being held at all. Others pleaded for decision-makers to take another look at the proposed reductions, suggesting fare hikes or rerouting of the system as alternatives.

They feared Hammond not having a transit system will drive people out of the city and cause people to lose their jobs. "Why hurt people who have jobs?" asked Patrick Doan.

Claudia Del Rio, who is blind, said she moved to Hammond because it has a transit system. Del Rio is the mother a 5-year-old son. "We won't be able to take him to the movies or for pizza," she said.

Jonathan Bolt said he uses the bus system to make his medical appointments and also to make it to his National Guard unit.

"I'm blind, and I'm crippled, and I have to take a bus," said Nancy Patton who enjoys her Saturday outings to Wal-Mart or Target. "Why don't you cut back on the boat near here? I believe in keeping your money in your pocket."

Alice Flores said she had a car but had to give it up because of nerve damage from lifelong diabetes.

"I feel the value of a community is in what it provides to its citizens," she said.

Joan Crist, who teaches at Calumet College of St. Joseph, said she doesn't need to ride the bus, but is concerned for those who do. Crist said creative alternatives were needed, such as adding a $1 fee to monthly water bills. She questioned whether it was worth sacrificing people's welfare in the push toward a regional bus system.

It's unclear what impact Thursday's nearly two-hour public hearing can have. The emotional outpouring was held before the city's Board of Public Works & Safety.

"We have no authority over any of this," City Attorney Joseph O'Connor, who leads the board, said after the meeting.

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CJD wrote on Dec 5, 2008 8:04 PM:

" Steve: it sounds like you need to find a second job. Better get crackin' buster. "

steve wrote on Dec 5, 2008 7:11 PM:

" you lazy idiots need to get family to drive you around it is not my responsibilty jesus my taxes are high enough because of you losers i see to many empty buses driving your loser butts around "

Same ole same ole wrote on Dec 5, 2008 6:49 PM:

" A few matters of clarification: The mayor did NOT submit a fully funded transit budget. He's the guy that started this whole ball rolling in the first place. Reality check: Lots of our citizens either can't or shouldn't be walking, especially in bad water. Wanna just throw 'em in the lake? Careful about justing other people before your moccasins have headed down the rest of your lire path. As to free or cheap rides, nobody asked for either one. They didn't have a chance, because nobody wanted their opinion before trashing public transit like they tossed the public health clinic. Other communities recognize that public transportation is a service that benefits many and is absolutely essential for some. Our priorities are way out of whack when we even contemplate sticking a bogus statue of liberty out in Wolf Lake while
completely trashing most of the services our most needy need in order to survive.
I agree, bus services will continue. But why create a crisis and put people through all of these changes? To make it look like the only savior is the RBA, which is made up of the same kind of political appointees that screwed everything up. "

to CJD wrote on Dec 5, 2008 6:16 PM:

" That's USMC to you buster! Semper-Fi
I dare you to ride the busses in Iraq. No busses means NO terrorism, I will take that that to the bank! "

CJD wrote on Dec 5, 2008 5:21 PM:

" thumb tax: Yeah, there you go. Blame poor people that ride the bus with their hands out and not the rich people that legally robbed us blind. URSC "

thumb tax wrote on Dec 5, 2008 3:17 PM:

" Just look at these comments. Tax the employers, forget flood control, increase real estate tax, tax, tax. So that "I can have a cheap bus ride, when I want it and where I want to go". And the busses are mostly empty. How many jobs should be lost, how many homes flooded, how many should miss a house payment, just so a handfull of people can get a cheap ride on a bus? These people just make demand upon demand, and taxes on taxes and regulations upon regulations. It's over! Notice the state of the economy lately? YOU did it. Your socialist demands for ever more freebies finally choked the golden goose. Congratulations. "

CJD wrote on Dec 5, 2008 2:24 PM:

" No worries, mate. The buses will not stop running. Too many people rely on them for basic human needs. There will be much wailing and hand wringing but, in the end, the buses will run. "

To J Trader wrote on Dec 5, 2008 1:27 PM:

" See, more commments from people who don't know the big picture, the help to Munster (and Griffith, Gary, Highland) would come from money that CURRENTLY GOES TO INDIANAPOLIS. Its not out of the Hammond Budget. Indianapolis forced Hammond to get less property tax dollars (so that big companies could get big breaks) when 1001 passed. The help to Munster is NOT the same money that could even be used for a bus system. Indianapolis could fund the useless RBA which has existed for three years DOING NOTHING. Quit posting useless uniformed comments and tell your State Rep to fund the RBA and you'll get your bus system back. "

JTrader wrote on Dec 5, 2008 11:57 AM:

" I see what our Mayor thinks about our City! He claims theres no money for our buses but yet he's offering to help out Munster? This was in yesterdays paper: "MUNSTER | Flood-weary homeowners Wednesday flocked to Munster Town Hall, where Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. pitched creating a sales tax increment financing district to speed the completion of the federal levee project.
NOW MY QUESTION IS WHY CAN’T HE DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO SAVE OUR BUSES? WHY IS HE WILLING TO HELP PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIVE IN OUR CITY, WHO DIDN’T VOTE FOR HIM? WHY IS HE LETTING US THE PEOPLE WHO DO LIVE HERE & VOTED HIM IN AS MAYOR LOSE OUR BUSES THAT WE NEED SO BAD? AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE DISABLE NEED THE BUS TO KEEP OUR DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS OR GO DO OUR SHOPPING? SO NOW WE HAVE TO DROP OUR DOCTORS BECAUSE WE CAN’T GET THERE? WHERE IS THE MAYOR CONCERN FOR US??? I KNOW IF HE DON’T KEEP OUR BUSES THERE WILL BE NEW FACES IN CITY HALL THIS NEXT ELECTION! WE NEED PEOPLE WHO GOING TO WORK FOR US & NOT AGAINST US! AFTER ALL WE THE TAX "

Huh wrote on Dec 5, 2008 11:56 AM:

" Tom McDermott Jr., "The Right Priorities" are styrofoam statues and planting flowers in front of a casino that could well afford to buy and plant it's own flowers. Why would you expect anything more from Bozo McDermott? "

Oh well wrote on Dec 5, 2008 9:41 AM:

" Start walking people! "

Dont blame the Mayor wrote on Dec 5, 2008 9:12 AM:

" Does anyone really believe EC and Gary will have bus service next year? If they do, they are fooling themselves. PUt the blame with house bill 1001. All the property owners fell all over themselves to save a few hundred maybe a thousand dollars, but the BIG winners were big businesses like BP and the Mills that saved MILLIONS and TENS of MILLIONS of dollars with 1001. That was the money that funded most of the services being cut. Now we have a Regional Bus Authority that refuses to provide Regional Bus Service. Look downstate with your complaints and protests, THEY did this to you. They can also keep the bus running, but everyone is too focused on blaming the wrong officials. Indianapolis HOPES you'll keep blaming the locals so they can keep giving big breaks to big companies, and not providing the services under the RBA. "

What wrote on Dec 5, 2008 9:08 AM:

" The mayor submitted a FULLY FUNDED TRANSIT BUDGET. Your Councilman cut it out. THank him or her. "

Thank you Mayor Tom wrote on Dec 5, 2008 8:05 AM:

" I have supported you in both elections. I need the bus to get to and from my job. I will remember this and I will be sure to thank you properly next election, even if I have to crawl to vote for your opponent. "

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