Well I'm over analyzing the EZ-Rider bus sytem again over at Jessica's Well.
Why do I do it? It's not that I am against EZ-Rider. I think the system is useful (if not fully designed, implemented and optimized). I have actually ridden EZ-Rider and think it is O.K. Also, I am not against public transportation in theory, but some of the generic public transportation selling points for EZ-Rider were over the top for Midland/Odessa. (Congestion, Commute Time, etc.)
What I wonder about is what will happen when the Federal share of running the system drops below 50%, or what happens when the State $ get reduced to fund "education" expenses? I have these visions of MIDTRAN. Yes, ridership is up, but how did other similar system do in Year 2, Year 3? Yes fare collection is 70% of the measley local share, but what happend to systems that had their Federal share drop below 50% of the total?
For the uneducated, the day-to-day EZ-Rider folks are really a team of well trained Mass-Transit professionals who are employed by McDonald Transit. They are very good at public relations and pretty good at running transit systems. I do find it troubling that the Key personnel on their website are CPA's and Public Administration Types, NO ENGINEERS.
I think EZ-Rider has done a good job with building a system around the disabled and the low-income, but for them to grow, they need to branch out. I have always questioned the lack of route between Midland & Odessa with a transfer station at the Airport. I guess the problem is it would take at least 4 buses to make this system viable, and when you only have 30 buses to begin with, that is a big investment. I also think that EZ-Rider doesn't market itself as well as it could for special event shuttle services. There has been some small scale uses at Rock the Desert and the CAF AirSHO, but they don't seem to be plugged into big annual events in the area. Yes it would take time to develop, but my analysis for 2004 shows EZ-Rider is not really a take me to work/school transit system, so they need to be inventive to survive the eventual decrease in Federal Funds.
