Gonder: Yellow Peril is catching.

Perhaps someday more of the many organizations and individuals I've approached about it will take sustainable land use and transportation policy more seriously as a central part of their missions rather than waiting for self-inflicted crises to occur but, until then, it's encouraging to see City Council President John Gonder join in the call for more equitable transit, particularly as it relates to educational and employment opportunities within our community. - Jeff

Republished in its entirety from his blog:

When the School Corporation sneezes, the City catches cold.

One step the school board could take to ameliorate the funding mess it faces is to downsize or eliminate the large school bus program.

The City faces two problems related to the transportation system currently in place, ie., transporting of students via buses owned and operated by the school corporation:

1. It is a costly service which subsidizes the choice of some parents to live in non-walkable neighborhoods, which causes the well-planned inner city neighborhoods to further deteriorate as essential services such as neighborhood schools are eliminated. This degrades the general quality of life within the older neighborhoods of town, and the entire community suffers.

2. The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) is being forced by a variety of factors to cut service throughout its service area, including New Albany. Because of these cuts the already meager bus system is pushed closer to the brink. The city is deprived of a viable system of public transportation, such a system can benefit the the community at large through greater access for all its citizens, better air quality and a residential pattern. Such a pattern allows the city to operate more efficiently as infrastucture is used to its greatest advantage, rather than having it spread thin in a costly advance toward the the sprawling edges of the community.

If the school corporation would eliminate the school bus program and instead rely on non-corporation-owned buses, it should realize a sizable savings. If TARC were presented with a daily cadre of student bus riders it would go a long way toward building a base of ridership to rationalize a comprehensive general public transportaion system for the entire community. The transportaion system would benefit the community as a whole and the presevation and revitalization of inner city schools would, likewise, benefit the community as a whole. The savings would allow the school corporation to focus its funds on its true mission --educating students, enriching the community, ensuring a sound future for our city-- which is a better use of scarce educational funds.