In the meantime, staff can analyze what it would cost if all bus rides were free, City Commissioner Harvey Ward said.
Ward said the estimated annual loss in revenues from giving the young and seniors a free ride only adds up to about $230,000, which isn’t much when compared to the city’s larger budgets.
But he said eliminating bus fares for those age groups “speaks directly to equity.
The no-fares plan could help young people get to the library or to part-time jobs, and could help seniors get to a doctor or other key destinations, Ward said.
Ward said this is not the first time the fare waivers have been discussed and it is time to implement the concept.
A state transportation agency elated Gainesville city commissioners Monday night by agreeing to turn over to city control a stretch of West University Avenue where a University of Florida student recently died to the city.
The city has asked for that transfer so it could redesign the road and add safety features as soon as possible.
“We’ve met with the city of Gainesville on jurisdictional transfer of state roads to the city, and we are waiting to hear back from them on the roads they would like, and the limits that they would like as well,” said Jim Hannigan, a district traffic operations engineer for FDOT. “Once that happens, we’ll fine tune the specifics and then move forward with the transfer accordingly.”
Gainesville City Commission responds to traffic safety concerns
Officials are discussing increased pedestrian lighting and road redesigns Photo by Ashley Hicks | The Independent Florida Alligator
Gainesville City Commissioners will meet with Florida traffic officials in a mounting effort to make roads safer after two student deaths less than two months apart on University Avenue.
The City Commission has broken down its efforts into a series of short- and long-term policies. Commissioners believe there are a number of immediate changes that can be made to stretches of the state highway inside the city, such as lowering the speed limit, equipping sidewalks with better lighting and increasing traffic enforcement.
Add the Gainesville City School System to the list of public school districts altering in-person learning schedules because of increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in the area.
Superintendent Jeremy Williams announced Tuesday morning that the last day for students in a face-to-face format before the holiday break will be Wednesday, Dec. 16. Due to the increase of COVID-19 cases and exposures in Gainesville City, Hall County, and other locations our employees reside, we have reached a tipping point where we are no longer able to provide coverage in all of our major departments (school nutrition, transportation, classrooms, nurses, etc.), Williams wrote in a statement.
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