By Andy Sevilla.
For Madonna Hayes it’s more than just a bus ride. The para-transit bus service offers her a sense of independence she would otherwise not have in the vast rural setting that Kyle is quickly outgrowing.
Hayes said she uses the Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS), a city-contracted para-transit bus service, to make it to doctors’ appointments and to the grocery store. Otherwise, she said, she would have to rely on her sister who lives and works in Austin to provide her with “much needed” transportation.
“I would have a very difficult time getting to doctors for instance, getting food, groceries… It would be terrible if I had no way of getting around,” Hayes said. “…It would be devastating for people like myself – I am a disabled person, as well as a senior.”
Faced with a looming deadline, Kyle council members approved a contract extension, two weeks before it was set to expire on Dec. 31, with the Capital Area Rural Transportation System, which provides para-transit bus service to city residents.
A para-transit bus from the Capital Area Rural Transportation Service (CARTS) turns right onto Burleson Street in Kyle. Two weeks before a Dec. 31 deadline, the Kyle city council approved to continue the CARTS program through Sept. 30. * Chart figures from the month of October 2013 |
After the 2010 Census, the city lost its rural transportation designation and is now grouped into the Austin Urbanized Area, causing the city to lose state dollars for bus service.
“As you can see by where (the bus riders) are going, they’re going to their doctor’s office and they’re going to the grocery store to buy food,” Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson told the council in support of extending the CARTS contract at their Dec. 17 meeting. “This is not used by anyone for recreational purposes, it’s used for them to get their basic necessities.”
Some council members met the contract extension with slight resistance, as the continued service would cost the cash-strapped city just under $32,000. The Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority also will provide matching Section 5307 federal dollars for the service.
CARTS bus service costs about $60 per hour and serves a minority of the city’s population.
“We could write a check for $50 each one of these folks for taxi fares, and it would be a lot cheaper for us, a lot cheaper for the tax payers,” council member Chad Benninghoff said during discussion on whether to extend the contract or not.
On Nov. 6 council members approved appropriating $12,960 to fund an extension of the CARTS contract through Dec. 31, while city staff developed a more long-term plan.
Now, with the additional $31,920 for the extension of the bus service through Sept. 30, city staff has time to discuss a plan with Capital Metro – Austin’s bus service provider – and other stake holders, and eventually present the council with a “more comprehensive (transportation) plan” during next fiscal year’s budget deliberations, Kyle Community Development Director Jerry Hendrix told council members.
“While I’m happy we’re working with Capital Metro to come up with a better transit service for us in the future, this is the only public transit service our citizens have to utilize now,” Johnson said. “I simply can’t put these people out to dry because it’s not cost effective. There is no other system for us to utilize.”
Ultimately, the council unanimously approved extending the CARTS contract, all the while vocalizing a need for a more lasting solution.
“I truly feel that CARTS is definitely beneficial, not only to seniors and disabled (persons), but for anyone who doesn’t have transportation and living in a rural area is very, very, difficult and I think the city council really needs to seriously think about a permanent solution, because Kyle is getting larger,” Hayes said.
Though she had regular para-transit bus service in Jacksonville, Florida, Hayes said she moved to Kyle in October to be closer to family; her mom lives in Buda and her sister lives in Austin. She said she enjoys living in Kyle, and remains hopeful for a continual bus service, perhaps one that could get her to and from Austin.
