GUEST COMMENTARY: Local bus services affect businesses

Having a reliable public transportation system is good for the whole business community, not just for those people who ride it. It has the potential to affect many lives per week as people go to medical appointments or work or use buses for other purposes. Although I do not ride the bus, my private practice is affected by clients who use the bus service to attend appointments.

Every week, several clients travel here by bus. Those clients are seeking my services as they work to improve their lives. However, getting to a scheduled appointment can be a large obstacle for someone without a vehicle. There are myriad reasons for not being able to drive to the appointment — being a minor, having physical limitations that prevent driving a vehicle, not owning a vehicle or simply not being able to afford the repairs needed on a vehicle.

Relying on bus service can be trying. I left my office one evening last summer and saw a client standing by the curb with her young child; they had been in my office an hour before for the child's appointment. I heard the frustration and desperation in her voice as she told me she hoped she hadn't missed the bus that was their only option to get home.

Another client, who is physically disabled, has walked to my Highland office after the East Chicago Transit bus dropped him off at the southern edge of East Chicago. Because the bus line ends at the city limit, it could not take him into Highland. He left his home four hours early to have enough time to walk the two extra miles to my office. At one time, he would have driven his own car but can no longer do so because of an accident.

I have witnessed other clients standing and waiting for the bus on the edge of Indianapolis Boulevard after having just spent a great deal of time explaining to me the circumstances that have led to this difficult time in their lives. Often, those circumstances are not of their own making.

Any one of us could find ourselves in need of transportation someday. I wonder if I could use the transportation system to get to where I needed to go on a daily basis. With the current, limited bus service, I doubt it.

Whether you realize it, professional offices and other businesses along the routes the Regional Bus Authority, East Chicago Transit and Gary Public Transportation Corp. encounter the same issue. Many businesses in your community are not reaching their full potential because more clients cannot easily access them.

This will become more apparent if the RBA is forced to close at the end of June because of a lack of funds. If you value bus service in your community, let your local elected officials know before it's too late.

Jill A. Miller is a psychologist with Northwest Psychological Services in Highland. The opinions are the writer's.