http://www.northwestindiana.com/discussionforum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3549&sid=87199100fd7e197a92b6e0d17c827a66

I think the real answer needs to consider how long will it take the RBA to get it's act together and how upfront it will be about how to pay for the shortfall of revenue. I oppose the F&B tax entirely!

As far as the true needs riders if we eliminate buses we could probably work out an arrangement with the North Township Dial-a-Ride to cover that with expended service and still save money overall. We also probably should seek a cab company to cover certain unmet needs. But I just don't see paying for empty buses to further clog up our streets in Hammond. If the buses must roll I'd rather find some way to eliminate fares as a 1-year test project and see if we can increase ridership by just giving the service away, or it may tell us that people just hate buses and will not use them at all. If a free bus service will still only half fill buses then I think it's time to go back to the drawing board and re-think what truly is a need and what just sounds like it would be nice to have.

I still think if Hammond and East Chicago merged their services, it would be utilized. Otherwise I say "NO". I never see any more that five people on a bus on a given day.

And why are the buses from the Nashville (TN?) airport?

I agree. Buses are a waste of local tax money in a time where we need all of the revenue we can hang on to.

I have a mixed view. Naturally people need treansportation but with the amount the city is giving to the RDA it makes no sense to have a bus system limited to just Hammond. I believe and hope that the RDA will be forced to address this issue especially if EC and Gary drop theirs...which I admit will have to be pried from their cold broke hands.

The RDA needs to get involved, but sadly they cannot until ever city that has one gives them up and then the RDA can step in and fix the mess

well i think gary is going to be forced to give its up next year. and i cant imagine ec being able to hold on to theirs much longer either. so maybe there is hope.

When there is no bus service anywhere, the RDA can step in, take over and run a trial program interconnecting the cities, including Valpo

You think there was a fuss down at Gary council chambers over the budget before just kill those buses and the peeps will be tossing more than shoes!

Not sure what you mean by pay twice exactly. Does Hammond even still have transfer fares? It's been literally a decade since I rode the thing. I figured with the transfer of buses it would be 2 separate fares anyway, unless maybe you had a monthly pass.

Well anyway I'm sure the bus thing will be headlines in Jan & Feb as they try to shove that F&B tax down out throats to pay for it. Again, I oppose giving any taxing authority to an unelected board, which effectively that proposal would be doing even if not technically.

I think transfers is a bigger issue on the monthly pass commuters. Still there are a number of riders now and there's no out of city transfer system in place. At least I don't think so.

If the sole sticking point were Gary I don't see why they couldn't set up the rest of the county and then let Gary come begging to be included later. The citizens would then put pressure on the pols to make it happen. But knowing Rudy he'd probably demand "a piece of the action" before agreeing to turn the operation over.

But he wouldn;t be able to

If I could take thebus from say Valpo to Merrillville, I would. But I wouldn't if I had to use the V-Line to go to a stop, then get picked up by another bus and pay again

Great point made recently is the need for a very good taxi service. This may be a very lucrative business for someone with the money to get it started.

Guess that would depnd on how low gas prices stay. If they just up to 3 something a gallon again, it wouldn't be easy.