StarTran Improvements on the Horizon

Posted by: Abigail Wood

awood@klkntv.com

Tuesday night was the first of four public meetings StarTran is hosting at local libraries to find out how they can make the bus system work better for you.

Richard Schmeling says the StarTran bus is his only way to get around Lincoln. He started the Citizens for Improved Transit because he feels public transport doesn’t get enough attention.

"If the mayor and city council will give StarTran more money," Schmeling said, "let the ugly stepchild out of the basement, feed him, and move him up in the line of priorities, then we’ll have a good bus system."

There are three big concerns. There isn’t evening services; busses currently stop running at 7 o’clock, it’s hard to get across town–Schmeling had to go all the way to O Street just to catch a bus from north to south–and busses don’t run very often.

"The top of the list is to increase frequency on our routes," said Mike Davis of StarTran. "And literally today in the middle of the day on a couple of routes we have a frequency of every two hours, and for people to go out and be able to rely on the bus, that frequency isn’t good enough."

StarTran proposed a plan to fix some of the major issues. They are presenting that plan at local libraries Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night. Schmeling says he’s glad their voice is being heard, but he’s worried it’s not enough. Under the new plan, the only route to see increased frequency is O Street, where the wait will drop from one hour to 30 minutes.

"As far as cross–towns, there are no true cross towns," Schmeling added. "The cross towns are sort of a patchwork, jigsaw puzzle type thing."

StarTran’s proposed plan works entirely with the company’s existing funds. The Citizens for Improved Transit are bringing the issues before city council February 8 to ask that StarTran receive more funding.

The informational meetings are on the following dates:

Wednesday, Jan. 20 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. – Eiseley Branch Library, 1530 Superior St.

Thursday, Jan. 21 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. – Walt Branch Library, 6701 S. 14th St.

Friday, Jan. 22 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. – Gere Branch Library, 2400 S. 56th St.