Dear Editor:
I just had to respond to Barbara A. Hill's letter in the June 7 paper. I have ridden the bus for many years. The people that you are seeing at the bus shelter smoking and playing with their cell phones are not bus riders. Look at the businesses or office buildings around the stop and you will most likely find your culprits come from there.
When our bus used to go by the shelter on Bolivar Street it would be an everyday occurrence to have to stop because the shelter was full of people dressed in hospital clothing smoking and chatting. As soon as the bus stopped they would wave us on.
There are buildings which have smoke shelters and designated areas yet the people will still come to the bus shelters and smoke. There have been times I've been ill and left work early and had to stand in a shelter with a bunch of smokers, all the while trying to keep from coughing my lungs out. As soon as they see the bus coming they leave and go back to work. It is an odd feeling being the only person in a full bus shelter that is actually waiting for the bus.
I'd also like to clear the air on the bad rap that bus riders get. For example: Bus riders are not riff raff. There is a misconception that the buses only provide transportation to the worthless poor. If all those people would quit looking down their noses at those of us who ride the bus you'd realize the bus is open to everyone. Some elderly ride the bus instead of driving in bad weather, many ride to make a positive difference in Jefferson City by cutting down on traffic, leaving more parking spaces open, saving fuel and cutting CO2 emissions.
If the city government would stop putting down bus riders and show the citizens of Jefferson City the advantages they offer they may just get enough riders to pay for their services without extra funding.