TYLER, Texas — Last month, the possibility of increasing bus fares and canceling Saturday services in the City of Tyler’s annual budget was tabled due to the public’s disagreement with proposed changes.
The budget was eventually passed by the city council, but the decision to increase bus fares and cancel Saturday services was put on hold.
On Tuesday night, an open house was hosted for a third time at the Glass Recreation Center to get feedback from transit users on how these changes would impact them. Multiple users of the paratransit system said the proposed rate increase would double their cost and the discontinuation of Saturday services will limit where they get to travel.
The city’s Transit Manager Russ Jackson said he was open to trying to find a reasonable solution after not increasing the bus fee for years.
Paratransit rider Carol Aldridge, 75, said her handicap of limited hearing and vision makes her rely on the system to get to work and other places around the city.
"It's all about being poor and handicapped and both of them are extremely hard to deal with," Aldridge said.
Her daughter Lorie Hudgins also came to the meeting to support her mom who is still employed and relies on rides from the bus to get to work. Hudgins said the rate increase will drastically make an impact on her mother's cost to travel.
"This is really important for her to continue to work at East Texas the Lighthouse for the Blind and she needs that paratransit transportation at an affordable rate to maintain that," Hudgins said.
Another Tyler resident Page Morris with East Texas Wheelers and Walkers voiced his concerns again about how he and other members of his nonprofit rely on the paratransit system being affordable and available on Saturday.
"When it gets to the point of depriving certain people of the ability to even have, like I said, freedom you got to say something about it," Morris said.
Many of those who spoke publicly were either paratransit users or representatives of those who also rely on the system. At the end of the meeting, Jackson said when proposing this new budget presentation he did expect the community to respond.
"Nobody likes what we're having to do and hopefully we can make it a little nicer," Jackson said. "That's what we're trying to do is brush up on this and do our homework."
Jackson hopes by hosting this meeting it will help him find a compromise in any possible changes to the transit system that would satisfied their customers.
"The council is listening and they are hearing it," Jackson said. "They're making decisions right off the bat, they tabled a presentation from the budget team. Let's hear what another alternative is and they may listen to that and say, you know, I want you to do better. I'm willing to do what I can but at some point in time they’re gonna have to find a dollar somewhere."
Jackson said he will be giving another presentation in Wednesday's city council meeting at 9 a.m. and does not expect for a decision to be made on the spot. A public forum will be available in the meeting for residents wanting to express their concerns directly to the city council.