ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
Valley Metro's general manager pitched a proposed gasoline tax Thursday to a group of people who rely heavily on public transit.
Members of the Mayor's Committee for the Disabled - a Roanoke panel that includes the disabled, representatives of the agencies that serve them and the businesses that employ them, both in and out of the city - embraced the idea.
Steve Mancuso, the bus company's general manager, told committee members that the proposed 2 percent gas tax likely would enhance public transportation, including services for the disabled.
Roanoke is seeking the General Assembly's approval of a gas tax to make up for decreasing federal subsidies for Valley Metro, and it is proposing the creation of a "transportation district" in which the tax would be imposed. Roanoke County and Salem have been asked to be part of that district.
The current bus system in the valley "is so confusing for people," said Karen Michalski, executive director of the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center, a private, nonprofit agency that assists the disabled. With a regional transportation district that includes Roanoke County and Salem, "you're looking at expansion of hours, no more of the jurisdictional thing."
The "jurisdictional thing" Michalski referred to is transportation services that run different hours in different localities and that sometimes stop at local boundaries.
Though a regional transportation district probably would not expand Valley Metro's fixed route service, it could enhance transit services, including services for the disabled and elderly, Mancuso said.
"What can we do to see that this regional transportation district happens?" one committee member asked Mancuso.
"Explain it to the appropriate parties," Mancuso said, referring to state legislators and the governing bodies of Roanoke County and Salem. "It needs to be done loud and clear. The more they hear about the necessity, the more likely they will be to take action that we need."
The gas tax in Roanoke alone would generate about $1.4 million a year. If Salem and the county agree to participate, the tax would produce about $2.5 million, providing enough revenue to expand the bus service in those areas.
But Roanoke County and Salem are not yet sold on the idea.
The county Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal to participate in the district next month. Salem City Council took no action last week on an invitation to participate.
Salem spends $35,000 a year for its contract with Valley Metro. Roanoke County doesn't do any business with Valley Metro but contracts with Unified Human Services Transportation Systems, Inc. - trade name RADAR - to provide transportation services, known as CORTRAN, for the disabled and the elderly. Valley Metro contracts with the company for the same services in Roanoke, known as STAR.
There are five transportation districts in Virginia. Two of them have a tax on the sale of motor fuel, Mancuso said.
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