See this story for the totals: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/28/connect-transit-totals/https://blnnews.com/2016/10/28/connect-transit-totals/
By: Diane Benjamin
I didn’t attend the Connect Transit meeting last night, but I have reports from people who did.
Of course people spoke that rely on buses, but people also spoke about BUDGETING a $12,000,000 loss when the country and the State of Illinois both have no money.
One person who attended reported hearing reports of massive waste at Connect Transit. I spent about 1/2 hour pulling questionable spending reported in Board packets just since January 2016: http://www.connect-transit.com/about/trustees/packet.asp
See if you think Connect Transit is being fiscally responsible with your tax dollars. I could have pulled MANY more items, start with these:
Outraged?
Where are the trustees?
Where is the press?
Obviously they need some serious investigating!
Incredible waste of money going on here…
Just an eyeball look and it all appears to be about $1.5 million. This is probably just a sampling of what they waste money on.
Once the rental bicycle stands are in place in Normal I am guessing they will move to eliminate Connect Transit?
You can multipy the $10M Connect Transit wastes every year time the hundreds of other small cities across the country that do the same thing. I heard that if Hillary gets elected we might double the number of buses so everyone will have their own bus.
How do you ride a bike in snow? How do you ride a bike when you are disabled? How much time and money does it cost to rent a bike and ride across town? I will bet it’s more than $1. I’ll bet you’ve always had the privilege and ability to drive your own car. Who pays for the rental bikes and the infrastructure to support those bikes? That’s paid for by taxes as well. Getting rid of public transportation won’t solve any Illinois state budget issues. There are a lot of states that budget there funds properly and are capable of funding there public transportation systems without interruption. This is a state of Illinois budget issue not a connect transit budget issue.
Back again with no apology? Why build bike lanes then? Nobody will use them in the snow!
Nobody said get rid of public transportation. They are saying budgeting a $12 Million loss and depending on the bankrupt State and Fed to cover it isn’t sustainable.
It is a Connect Transit issue when they obviously live large and empty buses litter the road!
Perhaps it would be easier to not charge any fares for Connect Transit and instead, eliminate the $600,000+ to Farebox and all the travel they do. Where do you need to travel to if you’re providing a free service. Also, make it a requirement that the Director of Connect Transit does not get a taxpayer subsidized vehicle or vehicle supplement. That should save some big bucks for the program.
Given the two recent investigations for inappropriate spending of tax dollars for travel by city personnel, individual receipts need to be provided for the multiple unitemized charges on the VISA account.
One of the consultants: http://nelsonnygaard.com
You can decided if the money is well spent.
Isn’t that who Bloomington uses to consult on benefits? Want to FOIA Connects Benefits? They pay a small FORTUNE.
This consultant is for developing sustainable transportation systems for communities.
Epic Fail!
I think they are responsible for the route changes to make Connect Transit more efficient and cost effective.
The tax payers sure are being taken advantage of. They need to charge a fair to cover the cost of riding. If they can’t do that, then get rid of Connect Transit. No, we are not obligated to cover the cost of transportation for everyone.
A bus ride would probably cost like $15. We would be better off to buy 50 cars and hire drivers and make every fare $1.00. We would at least have a chance of breaking even.
Here’s a way to save on ‘travel and meetings’ Just drive one of the busses. That’s right. Just take one right out of the f-in’ fleet and drive it whereever the heck the meeting is.
Pull out some seats so they can put some cots down. Hotel accommodations just got really cheap. Shower at the truck stop (eat there too).