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The End Of The Line

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By GEORGE WILKENS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

PLANT CITY - The shutdown of Plant City Transit will leave some longtime passengers looking for a ride.

Victimized by the decline in city revenue attributed to Florida's Amendment 1 property tax reform, the municipal bus service launched in 2001 ceases operations Friday.

Regular riders such as 65-year-old Wesley Stickle are lamenting the loss of the bus he rides to numerous medical appointments and to the Plant City Family YMCA for therapy three times weekly.
Stickle lives at Floral Village, a mobile home park at Baker and Alexander streets, a stop on Route 72 that en route to downtown weaves past numerous shopping centers, physicians' offices, medical facilities, the post office and City Hall.

"I have no car. My legs kill me" after walking several blocks, said Stickle, who wears custom orthopedic shoes, suffers from diabetes and arthritis, and has extremely poor vision. "I can see well enough to drive, but I can't see well enough to get a license," said Stickle, who, even after an operation, has 20/400 vision in his right eye, 20/100 in his left.

Derek Youngblood, one of Plant City Transit's two fulltime employees, knows most regular riders by name and their usual destinations.

"The majority of my riders are going to the doctor's," said Youngblood, who has been driving one of the minibuses for 18 months. Others ride the bus to work, grocery stores and career centers or to return home from Plant City High School, he said.

"It's just unfortunate this service is going to be eradicated," said Youngblood, adding that it will be especially hard on disabled and elderly riders. "Some of them don't have family here" that can help provide transportation, he said. "The ones that are healthy will walk or get a bicycle."

Some will undoubtedly turn to Hillsborough County Sunshine Line, which provides door-to-door transport for qualified low-income and disabled individuals.

"Based on ridership and the number of vehicles we have parked in Plant City, we think we'll be able to absorb" the increase in passengers, Sunshine Line manager Ed Wisniewski said. "We're already there and have room for additional service."
Sunshine Line minibuses are based throughout the county, including four in Plant City.

"Our primary mission is for medical appointments," Wisniewski said. "Those who are eligible for Sunshine Line will be OK."

Sunshine, operated by county government, charges floating rates based on income. Some passengers pay $2, some pay $4, while others pay nothing, he said.

Reservations are accepted two to seven days in advance by calling (813) 272-7272.

A retired bus driver, Stickle has used Sunshine Line, and although fares are virtually the same as Plant City Transit, scheduling is problematic for riders - "You've got to go when it's convenient for them" - and buses are sometimes overbooked, he said.

Stickle, a Plant City Transit customer since moving here in 2003 from Stroudsburg, Pa., is uncertain how he will get around. Half-jokingly, he said he will shop for a small motor scooter. His wife, Mary, walks one mile to the nearest market, buys groceries and takes the bus home.

"I'm really going to miss the bus service," said retired nursing assistant Gloria McCatty, 68, a loyal rider since the founding of the line nicknamed the Strawberry Connection.

"The city should support senior citizens for transportation. I don't see why Plant City can't have a bus service" like Lakeland and other nearby cities, she said after boarding the bus outside her Plant City Towers residence one recent afternoon.

Three times weekly she rides the bus to physical therapy sessions necessitated by a back injury that forced her to give up driving.

"A lot of people use the bus service. I don't know; what's the alternative?" she pondered.

She may rely more upon her daughter, Joy Moya, who lives in Plant City, though a job and school keep Joy very busy, her mother said.

Floral Village resident June Ambrose said that although she used the bus service only occasionally, she will miss having it available and worries about those dependent upon it, including a widowed friend with no family in the area.

"That's the way she goes to the grocery, other shopping and doctor's appointments," Ambrose said.

"Those people are left in the cold now," said Ambrose, a retiree and former U.S. Department of Energy employee who lived in Washington for 30 years.

Taxis are too expensive for the average senior citizen, and the economy will make it tough for displaced bus riders to get a helping hand, she said.

"With the price of gas, people don't want to be carting their neighbors around," she added.

Ambrose said the lack of judicious use of the federal grant that launched the service, coupled with cutbacks in operating hours, set the stage for the bus line's failure.

At the May 27 Plant City Commission meeting, City Manager David Sollenberger said eliminating the buses will save $182,500 annually. That and cuts in other areas are necessary to ensure adequate funding for core services, especially police and fire protection, he said.

Plant City Transit was launched March 19, 2001, through a four-year contract with Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, with the initial three years paid by a $1 million federal grant designed to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.

Under HART, the number of passengers carried per operating hour varied greatly, from 2.74 the first year, to 11.75 in 2004, a four-year average of 6.01, according to records provided by Community Service Director Jim McDaniel, whose duties include the bus service.

From June 2005 through this past April 30, Plant City transit carried 119,624 passengers, an average of 10.15 per hour, records show. Annual averages ranged from 7.29 the year the city took over to 12.06 during the first four months of this year.

Ten passengers hourly is a benchmark, an industry standard for transit systems large and small, Sollenberger said, but the city couldn't justify the expense.

"We've done a good job managing a very small system," said Sollenberger. "We brought ridership up from seven to 12 per hour, and that's significant."

Under HART, annual operating costs exceeded $300,000, he said.

"We took over the original system, improved performance and reduced costs, all at the same time," he said.

The main problem is that to make it profitable would require more money, more buses, more routes and extended operating hours, the city manager said.

"We couldn't afford it," he said.

The city will sell its three minibuses, each of which has 14 seats and accommodates two wheelchair passengers.

"I do understand the situation, and I've got a good attitude about the whole situation," Youngblood said. "But I'm going to miss it," he said of what he calls "probably one of the best jobs I ever had."

He and the other full-time driver will move to other city jobs. Youngblood, who moved here four years ago from Tampa, will shift to the stormwater division.

"They took care of me in a bad situation," he said of the city. "I'm grateful."

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4433 or gwilkens@tampatrib.com.

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