In the consent agenda today at the city council meeting they will be proposing testing an alternative to Paratransit for disabled riders;
Transportation Services for Persons with Disabilities
Community Coordinated Transportation Systems (River Cities Public Transit): $ 120,000
As I understand it they will be more like a taxi service for the disabled that are more ambulatory then those who normally ride paratransit, and will charge $5 a ride. It will be an experiment at this point. I expect a more detailed explanation tonight at the council meeting.
It might be a start, but only to a certain extent. Since I haven’t been able to ride paratransit I have been taking a cab to WalMart and it costs roughly $5.50 each way. Then there is the fact that during the school years there are a couple times a day that you can’t hardly get a cab at the time you need it because they are transporting kids to school. A lot of the time when you call for a cab and forget to specify that you don’t want a van, that is what gets sent and there are a lot of people that can’t get in and out of vans.
Sad that parents must resort to a taxi to get kids to school. The new middle school is so far out that it’s bus only. There will be more options once public ride share (Uber & Lyft) gets established. When it comes to transportation, the city doesn’t consider practicality and common sense. Fares will float lower once there’s no set rates and exorbitant license fees. The city picked the wrong ambulance service. Obviously, you have to be an insider. Perhaps, public rideshare will replace many ambulance trips because they respond in 10 minutes or less, provide a comfortable ride, and cost far less.
Joan, Uber sends you pictures of the car & driver on your phone. You pay online. No tipping. No fumbling for change. Driver will help you in and out of the car. You’ll have a choice of vehicle. Likely, they’ll have drivers posted in Walmart lot to pick you up as you exit. Using a taxi costs more, smells like smoke, and is an uncomfortable ride. They’ll become obsolete. In fact, why own a car? Add up interest, service, repairs, license, insurance, and parking. Uber is cheaper and always convenient.
Speaking of Uber, my attempt to sign up as a driver has hit a roadblock that our wonderful state can’t take care of. Since my license was renewed less than a year ago, they require documentation that I’ve had a license longer than that. I went down to the DL building and paid the five bucks to end up with a document stating what my current license says. I went back in and was told to contact Pierre with a certain form. A week later I received the exact same document. Oh well.
I don’t have that kind of phone. I have the very cheapest pre-paid phone you can get, I won’t pay for things like rides, etc. with my credit card. I don’t think I will have to worry about my transportation too much longer, because I was diagnosed with stage three cancer in September and I’m not doing treatment because the oncologist told me the reactions to chemo would be much worse because of other prescription medications that I have been taking for years. After talking it over with my kids and adult grand kids I decided to live a quality life as long as I can rather than feel crappy during treatment. So far I have felt really good 99% of the time, don’t have any pain at all. I turned 75 in early April and posted on my facebook page that I had turned 75 and there were a lot of people back in October that didn’t think I would make it that far, but I fooled them.
Joan, sympathies. Thanks for sharing. You’ve fought. Cancer is a hard fight. Keep in good spirits. You’ve got your family. That’s wonderful.
Scott, try LYFT. They’re the other Uber and not as strict. Supposedly, they’re already in Sioux Falls. Uber has a market value of 50 billion. Their focus is world wide. Lyft is US. Carl Icon recently put 50 million into Lyft. They’ll (likely) become the choice domestically.
Joan, you probably made the right decision, I wish you luck with your peaceful journey.
Thanks, Spin! I’ll try that.
Lyft and Uber are passenger Vehicles moonlighting as commercial.You get in a smack up in one of them
MY guess is your are riding in a vehicle without
ANY type of insurance.
Uber worth more than GM the bailed out broke bastards,hilarious.
OBG,..IAaL
Don’t crash while in an Uber.
Dump your 401 in their
stock it can only go up they’ll be worth as much as crapple.