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Football shuttle buses OK to continue service

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By DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 - 02:43:06 pm CDT

The Big Red Express lives on.

The city buses that carry Husker football fans to Memorial Stadium have the green light to roll again this year.

Their future was up in the air up until this week, due to federal regulations that now require cities to offer such shuttle services up to the private sector.

Under the new rules, which went into effect April 30, transit agencies cannot offer such shuttles if a private company is willing to do the job.

Lincoln officials were required by the feds to offer the gig up to charter companies nationwide, and the deadline for them to express interest was Tuesday.

Nobody applied for the job, so that means the city StarTran buses can continue business as usual. However, each year, the city will have to go through the same rigmarole.

“We have to do the same thing every damn year,” said StarTran head Larry Worth. “You just hold your breath. We made it this year.”

If a charter company had been interested in the job, the city would have either had to let them do it or charge the regular bus fares of $1.25, rather than premium rates. The city makes about $60,000 by charging higher fares, and would lose money if it charged regular fares — which could have jeopardized the service.

Last year the city charged $4 each way for adults. This year’s price is being figured out.

StarTran’s popular annual holiday light tours, however, are now banned under the federal regulations. Public buses are no longer allowed to give sightseeing tours.

“It’s too bad,” Worth said. “A lot of people really enjoyed the light tours. We’ve had sellouts every year.”

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.


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Outside the Box wrote on July 24, 2008 3:48 pm:
" This regulation still makes zero sense to me. It's not as if StarTran has the exclusive rights to football shuttles or holiday light tours. Private business can offer the same product and the open market will decide based upon price, service, and convenience. "

 Makes Sense to me wrote on July 24, 2008 4:13 pm:
" Government should not be competing with private businesses. I have no problem with the city filling this void if no other company wanted to offer the service. "

 HuskerFan wrote on July 24, 2008 4:31 pm:
" It make sense to have bus shuttle service available when its so d*** tough to find good parking without paying $10-15 for a grassy spot in someone's back yard. Plus the fact that you can pick your shuttle pickup spot according to the neighborhood you live in.

I say let a private company do the holiday bus tours. One of those tour bus company will fit in nicely with their cushioned seats, heated aisles and clear windows and a PA speaker that play Christmas music.

Go Big Red and Merry Christmas!! LJK. "

 Mark wrote on July 24, 2008 5:21 pm:
" No more "Hoiday Lights" Tours. Thank you Mr. Grinch aka the Feds! "

 Al wrote on July 24, 2008 8:56 pm:
" This is just great. More busses spewing noxious gases. People should be skipping these games and working on eco-friendly projects to offset all of the carbon gerneated by the thoughtless "fans" who fill the highways on footbal saturdays and pollute our air with their cars. "

 Sellout wrote on July 25, 2008 1:29 am:
" Why are we discontinuing the light tours if they are "sellouts"? Is this not an opportunity being wasted to generate much needed funds for StarTran? I can understand cancelling mid-day services for buses with no riders, but why would anyone cancel a program assumingly making money (which "sellout" would imply)? No wonder we continue to have city budget problems. "

 Neighbor wrote on July 25, 2008 5:58 am:
" Please consider running one bus later when games are in the afternoon - this will give folks a chance to have a nice dinner downtown, especially those from out of town to don't get to Lincoln otherwise. "

 Hjalmer wrote on July 25, 2008 6:35 am:
" This is an example of how a active government national energy policy is so deperately needed. Government policy should be encouraging use of local buses not discouring their use. Lincoln is so far behind when it comes to a modern highway transportation system, that at this late date, Lincoln should just skip the whole phase of modern freeways and commuter highways and go straight to mass transit as the primary way of moving people around the city. Forget more streets and highways. Just take the cars off the existing streets and force people out of their cars and on to a modern, user friendly, convenient, mass transit system. "

 ste wrote on July 25, 2008 6:52 am:
" Sellout. You don't have a clue about what you are talking about. StarTran didn't drop them because of there doing. The Federal Government made this decision for them. As for me, I am glad that they are gone. They were nothing but a big headache. Now I can enjoy my holiday evenings with family and friends. "

 THE OTHER JR wrote on July 25, 2008 8:15 am:
" Don't call the holiday lights tour a "sightseeing" tour. Instead, just call it a participant-funded "open house" for the public to ride the buses so they can get a feel for what it is like to ride. This will help educate the public on the fact that public transportation is a viable, comfortable and convenient commodity -- and something they should consider incorporating into their daily routine. Oh, and, it just so happens the buses drive through the neighborhoods with pretty holiday lights and displays. What a great idea...thanks The Other JR! You're welcome. "

 Anya wrote on July 25, 2008 6:24 pm:
" What a mess! Government is waaaaaaaaaaaay too intrusive in our lives. At least StarTran will be running the shuttles for another year. For those of us unable to walk ten or more blocks to the games, these shuttles are great. I agree they need to run later. By the time we pick up our kids at the Rec Center, we're hard-pressed to find a bus still running.
As for not going to the games so we can spew less into the air...not gonna happen, Al! Get over it. Besides, we are spewing less by using public transportation. "

 madguy wrote on August 1, 2008 1:56 pm:
" I'm sick of the government making us give up everything we like. I mean were are still trying to get over the fact that they changed the routes with out thinking of school students,work hours, and other stuff. "

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