By: Diane Benjamin
Connect must be having a difficult time hiring a new General Manager. They are meeting again today in Executive Session to discuss “personnel matters”.
Remember the corner by Portillos the buses can’t navigate? A reader received the email below from MARCH stating CT had contacted the Town of Normal for solutions:
Nothing has changed, the same citizens took this video a couple days ago:
Biden’s infrastructure plan to spend $2.25 trillion likely won’t pass, but CT included this report in their recent packet: https://www.connect-transit.com/documents/Meetings/ADDENDUM%20TO%20AGENDA%20%2004-27-2021%20REV.pdf
Proposed spending excerpt:
First thing to notice is actual infrastructure isn’t the focus. Forcing us to buy electric vehicles is. There is nothing in the plan for generating more electricity however.
Connect’s last meeting was held on April 27: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GCvgxc-6AubADvbMvrNzsP_Oh1lAlVI0/view
The operating loss was $933,417 for the month of March.
Every ride cost $5.69.
Every mobility ride cost $46.93
Riders in March totaled 138,053 compared to 143,069 in March of 2020.
Mobility riders totaled 5,049 compared to 4,754 in March of 2020.
Next year’s budget has planned revenue and losses of $15,000,000. See PDF page 37.
Expect tears, riders are going to have to start paying fares again in June.
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They’re having a hard time finding a GM. Hmm…I wonder why. The cronies and insiders will undoubtedly say that they need to offer more money to attract talented people, which is the go-to excuse/course of action for government. Of course, the real reason is that they can’t find someone that they can control…you know, the right fit. Remember the local leadership is very skittish when it comes to outsiders who are not in their circle. Hence why Peterson is in that role; he’s been programmed.
Connect needs to purchase shorter busses. The current behemoths are too large for our infrastructure and way overkill for the ridership! They cost taxpayers more in road repairs and the obvious additional turn radius extension that is going to be needlessly spent for this turn by Portillios. Government never fixes the problem, they just throw more money at it and thus creates another problem. This is what “professional staff” and rubber stamp politicians with no common sense get us.
Peterson will be kept on to ensure taxpayers are milked out of as much as possible for Bloomington’s transfer station. It is a competition to make it more lavish than the one he built for Normal.