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November 19, 2005
Transportation Meeting~We Need Public Transportation in East Ridge!
This electric shuttle system, which serves downtown Chattanooga, is a strong model of publicly and commercially oriented travel while providing clean air output and free fare transportation.
But come to East Ridge today and you will find no such system of transportation. In fact, we have nothing to speak of now. We don't even have rickshaws (I like to call these eco-taxis). I have shared this problem with city officials but to no avail. Lacking a public tansit system is a major problem to any city, and so I am addressing our problem personally and with others.
For this reason, I pulled together a first meeting on transportation in East Ridge, Thursday, Nov. 17, at the East Ridge Retirement Center. I want personally to thank Betty Smith, the director of the retirement center, for hosting this meeting. She has offered her community to be the place for future meetings as well. She truly cares about her community. I also want personally to thank Gail Lindsey of Lindsey & Associates for facilitating the meeting.
As some of you already know, East Ridge lost all public transportation service from Hamilton County on Nov. 1, 2005. This loss of service has hurt many East Ridge residents, mainly seniors but others as well who are on fixed incomes or who are disabled. For the past two weeks, I have received calls from different residents in East Ridge, asking me what I could do about the problem. I talked at length with Marilyn Tepper, whose husband was the well-known Dr. Tepper in East Ridge. She believes this is a "travesty" and will "force many people into terrible dependence and depression, eventually desperation." She also believes that "public transportation is the hub of the wheel of economy and without it we are doomed economically because it is not cost-effective."
At this first meeting, we had representatives from various agencies as well as concerned East Ridge residents. All agreed that something needed to be done. We need your help in moving ahead. If you live in or know anyone in East Ridge, please have them contact me about our next meeting. We are going to begin our push with community awareness meetings.
It appears we have received some help already. I talked with CARTA Friday and they're saying they would like to help out but believe the city of East Ridge may not do anything until the next budget cycle. I believe East Ridge will need convincing through community action.
I want to say thanks to Wayne Owens at STS for his input, and Timothy Duckett, CEO of Millennium Cab, who wants to find a public-private partnership to assist. We appreciate Kathy Eargle of Interfaith Senior Services who says she will continue to provide a very limited number of volunteer rides to a few seniors here, a service only for those over 65 years old going to their doctor.
As we form a grassroots effort to solve this huge problem, let me leave you with these numbers which should convince you about how big this problem is:
* 25% of the population of East Ridge is over 60 years of age. This is almost twice as high as the county numbers for 60+ years old, demonstrating a unique need for transportation. These elderly need our help.
* 23% of the population of East Ridge is disabled. This number is higher than the national average and represents those people who may be blind, deaf, or have severe limitations in hearing or seeing. These are also people who have trouble climbing stairs or walking down the street and need special help getting to and from the store or doctor. These disabled need our help.
* 40% of the population of East Ridge rents. Almost all of these renters are low-income, many of whom may depend on help with transportation. These renters need our help.
* East Ridge has almost 2x the number of crimes than the average on the National Crime Index. This is another reason for safe, affordable, and accessible transportation to be provided. For those who walk, safety becomes an issue. These seeking safety need our help.
* About 1,700 individuals in East Ridge live below the poverty line. That's almost 9% of the population. Many of these individuals struggle with finding adequate transportation. These underprivileged need our help.
| By wjbailes | 05:58 AM
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