There is a need for public transit in Emmet County and that need is only going to grow as costs at the pump go higher and higher. Designing and maintaining an effective public transit system that lowers costs for area residents enough for employers to not have to pay higher labor costs is both difficult and expensive. In order to be reliable and regularly used there needs to be enough capacity so as to not be inconvenient and it needs to service enough area so people can easily access it. In order to reach this level of service or economy of scale a huge up-front investment has to be made in combination with patience for the public to change habits from being used to driving a car.
Government is the service of what we ‘ought’ to do and ‘ought’ implies ‘can’. So, the real question is: Can Emmet County provide a public transit option? I say yes Emmet County can. The second question is: Can Emmet County provide an effective and efficient transit system? I say Emmet County probably cannot provide an efficient and effective public transit within the level of funding available. Does that mean they should scrap EMGO? Not necessarily.
It’s important to note that Emmet County only has 35,000 residents and 1/5 live in Petoskey. When a geographical region is so rural public transit will inherently be more expensive on a per capita basis. This combined with the fact that many are so used to driving cars it will take a long time for many in rural areas to change their habits. As habits change and as usage increases the county should increase their capacity and cover more devoted routes up and down State Road as well as Pleasantview Road rather than primarily US-31. This improved accessibility will in turn lead to more usage which will drive the cost down on a per capita basis.
With gas prices rising and as we head into the winter time right now would be the worst time to scrap a public transit option in Emmet County.