By: Diane Benjamin
Link to tonight’s meeting packet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VnNpRDPK7mbHSOgI1fZO2yfmT4yioSrR/view
Loss for the month of August:
Boarders per hour:
Yes, less riders. In August of last year they lost $953,797.79. With a couple hundred thousand more riders they might break even. They will have to be imported however.
Cost per trip in August was $4.01, down from $4.07 last year.
Connect Mobility cost per trip skyrocketed to $34.54 from $28.11 last August. The number of trips was down by 688 from last year. August 2019 had 2.6 passengers per hour, last year it was 2.85.
On the Agenda:
The Cost?
Do these people know where grant money comes from?
NOPE!
Meanwhile Normal is down one representative, The rest appointed by Renner and Koos only do their bidding, no common sense allowed on the Board. That is why so many people have been rejected for appointment.
No matter whether the funding is State or Federal,the $$ still come out of my account!
I was always told “that’s a different pile of money.” Or, as Dan Brady would often say, the grant money “would have gone to some other community.” Oh, okay. Right.
Hey it’s no big deal! I have my money tree in the back and it is full of 100 dollar bills that are almost ready for picking. I am sure since this has been a fantastic growing season this year (the extra CO2 from carbon emissions is great), I am betting that everyone with money trees in town are also ready to pick a bumper crop of 100 dollar bills! So who cares about a little $953,797.79 loss in August? Pocket change for us money tree growers!
More and more of the buses have tinted windows now and big wraps on them for advertisement. I guess we are not suppose to notice the empty seats inside.
This is such a waste of money. A downtown transportation hub will not add a single rider. A micro transit style system would be a far better design with large buses on heavily traveled routes and small shuttles on lesser traveled routes. Can’t wait for the day they want to purchase a big double bus with the accordion center section like Chicago has. That is how out of touch with reality they are.
Even with nearly $1 million a month in Total Operating Assistance i.e. taxpayer-funded subsidies, they can’t seem to break even. It’s as if Connect Transit will spend (and apparently overspend) whatever they can get in the form of subsidies. Hmm. $1 million dollars a month in government waste for the past of transportation – a centralized, government-controlled bus system. Not very progressive is it? Why is this political hackarama getting praise from the EDC, Chamber, and BN Advantage? They should be held to account and challenged for wasting taxpayer dollars and neglecting the truely needed members of their customer base and our community while being subject to no oversight or accountability. Marc, if you’re reading, when you become mayor, might I suggest nominating an auditor to the vacated seat. I’ll heat up the popcorn.
Nice to hear well phrased outrage! I’ve felt it for years!
One must understand what drives the members of the Bloomington-Normal Elitist Clique. No matter what side of the political spectrum they claim, the Clique must be front and center on all matters community. They actually despise the taxpayer and have actually uttered it on occasion. It is a group that is self-absorbed and actually need each other for personal affirmation that their lives somehow matter more. They need to exist in a mutual admiration society circle for their own day-to-day stability. Of course ego plays a vital role in their lives. If it wasn’t a centerpiece of their self worth, some couldn’t get out of bed in the morning to face the day. Many of these people growing up had low self-esteem and were likely loners and thought of themselves as unpopular. They now have an unquenchable need for constant recognition and get it by serving on endless committees, running for local offices and pushing their way on to boards that make them feel worthwhile and important all the while assisting in making poor decisions that make other lives more difficult.