|
|
If you've made it this far into our website you probably either live in the Racine area or are seriously considering it. We choose to live in communities like ours because of all of the things that urbanized life has to offer. The Belle Urban System (BUS) is one of many ways that all of those great things are able to function together efficiently. Not everyone uses our services every day but we are willing to bet that anyone living in the Racine area comes into contact with a bus rider nearly each and every day.
Our customers keep our restaurants, commercial, industrial and cultural offerings fully staffed. They are often part of your health care team. They might be a part of you or your child's educational experience. They might even be your child, grandchild, niece or nephew. If you've ever read the "Apartments For Rent" or "Help Wanted" classified ad section you are familiar with the words "close to transit", or "on a bus line".
The Belle Urban System is a joint effort of the City of Racine in cooperation with the Villages of Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant, Caledonia and Yorkville. Our operations are supported by the proceeds of federal and state gas taxes, fare box revenues, local community taxpayers, advertising and other revenues. If the nearly one and a half million rides that we provide each year where provided by individual autos our streets would be more congested during rush hours, our air would be less healthy and some of our less fortunate citizens would not able to get to the jobs that help them become more self-sufficient. In the City of Racine alone, nearly 1 out of every 8 households reported that they did not have access to a car in the 2000 census. The 2008 Recession could result in even more transit dependant households being reported in upcoming census figures.
The services that we offer are modest. They provide a basic transportation system for those that depend on us and those that simply make the choice to use us because it saves them money and fits well into their individual transportation needs. A household that might have had to support buying and maintaining another car can get by with a $65 "monthly car payment replacement" by buying one of our convenient 30 day bus passes for only $65.
We try to operate as efficiently as possible. One of the ways that you can help us reduce operating costs is by choosing to occasionally (or better yet regularly) filling one of our comfortable seats instead of taking your car. You might find that being forced to interact with strangers adds a richness to life that seems to have started evaporating in today's world.
Please let us know how we can improve. We can't afford to provide service that will fit everyone's needs. We can, however, always strive to be on the lookout for ways to make our service better understood, more useable, and less dependent on outside funding.
Al Stanek
Parking and Transit Systems Manager
City of Racine
730 Washington Avenue - Room 304
Racine, Wisconsin 53403
262-636-9480 (Office)
262-636-9545 (Fax)
608-320-9781 (Cell)
Members of the Racine Transit and Parking Commission are: Deborah Ganaway (Chair), Ald. Ray DeHahn (Vice–Chair), John Heckenlively, Kristin Niemiec and Mark Kowbel
|