By Moses Leos III

Tense discussion took place on the Kyle City Council dais Feb. 2 as city leaders and citizens sparred over transportation options for residents within the city.

But by a 6-1 vote, the Kyle council directed staff to craft a report to find viable public transportation options for the city at a cap of $50,000.  Kyle Mayor Todd Webster voted against the measure.

District 1 council member Diane Hervol initiated discussion after hearing residents speak against the city ending demand-response service from the Capital Area Rural Transportation Service (CARTS).

She asked city staff to find alternative transportation options, such as working with non-profit organizations. She suggested funding would derive from budgeted city positions that haven’t been filled yet.

She added the city has a “niche” of people in Kyle who don’t qualify for full Medicaid or rider subsidies for transportation.

“We need to have a transportation system that will meet that need,” Hervol said. “We are attracting more and more seniors here.”

Her request comes after Kyle cut the program, operated by Capital Metro, from the city’s fiscal year 2016 budget. The city paid roughly $70,000 as part of a matching federal funds grant to utilize the demand-response service.

According to Kyle City Council member David Wilson, the city has dealt with the public transportation issue “many times and the price keeps going up.”

Kyle Chief of Staff Jerry Hendrix added that only 11 of the 46 addresses CARTS serviced were within the city limits.

“The cost for these bus services, you can almost, with the number of riders we have, you could almost fly people to Los Angeles for what it costs for one rider,” Wilson said.

But Hervol’s discussion drew opposition from several council members, including Shane Arabie.

Arabie said the city has needs that are “impending at this point.” He cited fully funding EMS service.

“We are talking about pulling funds from other places we haven’t fully funded yet,” Arabie said.

Council member Daphne Tenorio said the discussion was warranted after she said CARTS was taken away from citizens “with no notice.”

She also said she was “irritated” by the discussion on ridership statistics presented by Hendrix.

She advocated for a temporary voucher program to fill the void for residents who need transportation.

“We keep forgetting this is a service to our citizens,” Tenorio said. “I’m not asking to spend $70,000 to $80,000 for the program. I’m asking we find some type of solution.”

Webster said he didn’t think anything found in the report would work. He was concerned that the “fraud potential from a voucher program is there.”

Webster didn’t believe the city is ready for public transportation.

“With a bus system around Kyle, only two people would use it,” Webster said. “There’s no justification for it at all. It’s an artificial issue.”

Council member Damon Fogley said he wasn’t “comfortable” right now with a transportation program in place, but said he was hoping for some type of alternative. He suggested working with non-profit programs to provide alternate transportation.

Fogley said the city must have a plan in place for public transportation. He cited use for not only the elderly, but also for college students attending Austin Community College.

“That’s something I would be interested in, as a growing community,” Fogley said. “We need to have plan in place.”vv