By Howard Packowitz
BLOOMINGTON – Mayors of Bloomington and Normal have issued a joint statement expressing their hopes for what a working group will accomplish to guide the transit system’s future, while a pair of Connect Transit critics like what they see so far.
The letter from Mayors Tari Renner and Chris Koos highlights the working group’s dilemma, whether to focus on short-term changes or look at longer-term solutions.
The mayors acknowledged many people see the group’s main task is to fix things, but the leaders see this as a chance to help make Connect Transit “a cutting edge 21st century transit system that serves all of its users.”
“Do not fear to be bold,” the mayors said.
“The conversation has become divisive in the community, yet clear needs for improvement have emerged,” they added.
The mayors said the top priority is to meet the needs of transit-dependent riders, but they also urged the group to come up with ways to attract potential passengers who have a choice whether to ride the bus.
“In a world of changing climate, rising greenhouse gas emissions, and the rise of the use of alternative transportation, we see the role of public transit expanding and we see the definition of users expanding as well,” the mayors added.
Normal Town Council Member Karyn Smith, who’s been critical of local transit operations, said she’s impressed with the diversity of the Connect to the Future working group.
“It looks like it’s going to be a very worthwhile opportunity for everybody to provide input on this very vital decision that will support our economic development,” said Smith.
Stan Nord, another Normal council member, encouraged people to participate in the process.
“Many of the folks that are on that work group voiced that they do want to address the current issues in addition to what the future of Connect is, so get involved soon,” said Nord.
The working group meets on the third Saturday of the month. The next meeting is July 20.
Last week, the Connect Transit Board attempted to ease some of pressure on the working group by delaying until January a series of fare hikes, and coming up with alternatives for disabled riders who said they would be negatively impacted by eliminating of the Olive bus route in north Normal.
The following is the letter the two mayors sent to the Connect to the Future working group:
To members of the working group,
Thank you for volunteering your time and expertise to help to make Connect Transit a more inclusive and responsive system. We ask that you take a “clean slate” approach to addressing this task.
Do not fear to be bold. The conversation has become divisive in the community, yet clear needs for improvement have emerged. While many see your work as a task to fix things, we see this as an opportunity to identify direction to help make Connect Transit a cutting edge 21st century transit system that serves all of it users.
In a world of changing climate, rising greenhouse gas emissions, and the rise of the use of alternative transportation, we see the role of public transit expanding and we see the definition of users expanding as well.
We encourage you to look at common sense solutions to the needs of transit dependent and Mobility users as a priority, yet also give consideration to the potential expansion of choice riders. Again, we thank you for taking on this important task. We stand by to assist you in your work going forward.
Mayor Chris Koos
Mayor Tari Renner
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
