Friday, February 6, 2009
Whenever she needs an inexpensive ride home, Rachel Gibson takes the K-10 Connector.
“It’s really just a nice way to get home,” Gibson, Overland Park freshman, said. “Gas is really expensive and the bus is just a $5 round trip or $15 for 10 rides.”
This rate will likely change soon, said Chuck Ferguson, deputy transportation director of Johnson County Transit. He said bus passes account for 12 percent of total revenue for the department. They aim to increase this figure to 16 percent, Ferguson said, possibly by increasing the fare to $25 for 10 rides later this spring.
“Unfortunately, even though it has high ridership, that’s the route that has the most service,” Ferguson said. “It’s not just the K-10 connector rate that will change, all of them will, but that one in particular will probably be changing in the near future.”
Ferguson said the rate increase was not meant to create profit. Johnson County Transit, with a tight budget this year, hopes the increased revenue will help meet expenses. Ferguson said bus passes account for 12 percent of the department’s total revenue.
An average of 482 people took the K-10 connector each day this January, its highest ridership since the service began in 2007. The K-10 connector consists of 14 busses that travel from Lawrence to Johnson County and back. The busses run in 30-minute intervals from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m, with continuing limited service until 11:35 p.m.
The K-10 Connector was created as an experiment to asses the demand for the service. Because of this, K-10 Connector rates are as cheap as the department can make them, Ferguson said. With more assistance, Ferguson said the department would have been better equipped to avoid raising the cost of bus passes.
“Right now, more so than ever before, we’re watching every dollar that goes out the door,” Ferguson said.
The department asked the University, the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, Johnson County Community College and the state of Kansas to help with financing K-10 Connector. So far, Ferguson said only the state responded with a one-time-only $500,000 grant.
Jessica Mortinger, intern for KU Parking and Transit, said the University considered the K-10 Connector an important service, especially given the busses’ popularity with students. Mortinger said the University’s budget was too tight to assist Johnson County Transit.
“We realize that KU is the main destination for the ridership of the K-10 Connector coming to Lawrence,” Mortinger said. “But the reality is our service is already at capacity.”
Allie Mahoney, Overland Park junior, works in Johnson County and said she had taken the K-10 connector for the past year to get to work. Mahoney said she wouldn’t mind paying a few extra dollars if it meant an easier commute.
“I’m stuck with it,” Mahoney said. “It’s too convenient.”
— — Edited by Justin Leverett
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K-10 Connector will increase prices
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