Johnson County commission opens public comment period on bus route reductions despite 2 members’ concerns

People who ride the bus and their allies gave the Johnson County Commission an hour’s worth of reasons they should think twice before cutting routes and reducing service as planned in a couple of months.

Not only would the route cuts hurt people with disabilities and those whose budgets don’t include cars, but they would cost the county in expanded road and infrastructure repair as the county grows, according to several people who testified at the board’s Thursday meeting.

Commissioners are considering elimination of two routes and reduction of others, while expanding a new mictrotransit van service. But although some commissioners expressed support for transit, the majority stood by their earlier decision to open a public comment period on the route-cutting plan. The comment period will involve surveys of riders and online and is set to end in mid-March. No action on the routes can be taken until after the comment period.