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Transit Talks 'Positive'

Transit Talks 'Positive' image
Parent Issue
Day
26
Month
February
Year
1974
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

The face-to-face confrontation between City Council and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority Monday night was described as "positive," but it left the future control of the city's public transit systemstill in limbo. Both council and authority members indicated they were encouraged by the meeting and feit they can cooperate in providing public transportation for Ann Arbor. However, each side intentionally sidestepped the issues presently pending in a lawsuit filed against them by a group of citizens and the League of Women Voters. The lawsuit claims the city illegally took money from the transportation millage. The city's answer to that suit seeks a court decisión taking the millage funds from the AATA and giving it to the city to opérate the transit system. Both Mayor James E. Stephenson and AATA Chairman William Drake said they had decided to leave the legal issues off the meeting agenda because the matter is still in the court. Councilman Gerald De Grieck tried twice to bring up the subject, but received little response each time from others at the meeting. De Grieck said he was especially disturbed by the city attorney's office asking to have the millage money taken away from he AATA. He said council has not taken a position on this and charged that any such decisión must have been made in the Republican caucus. While leaving the legal issues for the court to untangle, Drake did indícate agreement with a request by Mayor Stephenson that council be involved in the AATA's major decisions. The mayor referred specifically to the authority's decisión to lease 10 acres of Pittsfield I Township land at 3700 Carpenter Rd. for a new headquarters and maintenance garage. ., IBoth Stephenson and Councilman Bruce Benner Jr. questioned the wisdom of the AATA leasing township property. The mayor noted that the AATA does not need council's okay for such a lease, but he said, "I think it would be in the best interests of everyone if the AATA would bring a matter like that to council for input if not a contribution to the actual policy decisión. A facility that large we would much prefer to have in the city. " Drake, saying he was speaking for himself, said "It seems to me nothing can be lost and there's everything to gain by having council input on major decisions . . ." But he added the authority feit it had done an "exhaustive" search of existing facilities before choosing the Pittsfield site. Stephenson left it up to the authority to decide which issues are major enough to öring to counoíl. "Bflt overañ Wltn'fé" spect to community support for the (transit) system, we'll get it better if we worktogether,"hesaid. A statement that must have sounded good to some skeptics who have been afraid the council Republicans were out to dismantle the Dial-A-Ride transportation system carne from Republican Councilman Lloyd Fairbanks. He said these concerns "couldn't be further from the truth" Fairbanks charged that someone had contacted senior citizens who use the Dial-A-Ride service and told them the service was going to be ended. "While we've got problems . . . the program isn't about to be canceled. I'd like to make sure people get that message loud and clear. " Fairbanks called the charges against the Republicans a result of the "political j jgason" and a trick on senior citizens. Much of the three-hour working session, which Drake said was the first such meeting, was spent on council and audience members relaying complaints they have heard about the Dial-A-Ride service, and with the authority explaining or defending itself. Most of the com- plaints dealt with people having to wait a! 1 long time to be picked up, or having difficulty reaching the AATA by telephone. AATA Executive Director Karl Guenther said nis goal for the next two months is to improve the reliability of the service. Private telephone experts have been called in to suggest changes in the Communications system, he said, and the AATA has began to check the arrival times of the buses for improvements . Councilman Benner, one of the authority's critics, said he feit the AATA was placing too much emphasis on communication and not enough on "moving people." He added, "I don't think there's any argument with the installation of Teltran (citywide Dial-A-Ride). The f ate of that was decided at the polls." Guenther responded that aside from improving the existing service there is little the AATA can do because it cannot get enough buses. The AATA has received about $1.7 million from the state and federal governments to doublé the size of its current fleet, but these vehicles will not begin arriving until next fall, he said. A survey of AATA users conducted by the authority showed that 70 per cent of the people surveyed had no complaints against the service, Guenther said, adding that most of the complaints were about the telephone system. Adding to the telephone problems, he said, is the fact the AATA gets more than 300 calis for information each day. This, plus the fact "A lot of people cali up Dial-A-Ride just to chat" has resulted in some people not being able to get through to a dispatcher, he said. Sue Milder, in charge of public information for the AATA, and its chief complaint-taker, said that while some people have been very vocal in their objections ot the service, the Dial-A-Ride carries about 850 people daily during the week, most of whom are apparently satisfied with the service. Guenther presented to council a scheduled for the implementation of the complete Teltran system, estimating it will be completely installed by next January. The next major expansión is scheduled for next September when weekday Dial-A-Ride will be widehed to include Pontiac Heights and the near north side. In October this weekday service will be made available to northwest Ann Arbor, including the Lakewood and Hollywood subdivisions. Next November the plan calis for making Dial-A-Ride available to everyone living south of Stadium Boulevard and Washtenaw Avenue. The remaining areas will be phased in during December 'and January, with the direct home-to-work subscription service becoming available in September or October. Guenther said this schedule depends on how quickly additional buses can be ordered and delivered.