Ellington

JATRAN Route Changes Ahead?
Citizens are complaining about recent bus-route changes, and a special committee for JATRAN is trying to respond.

Riders are confused over Route 4A, which serves portions of Lakeland Drive, North State, Amite and High streets. The printed schedule of the route says it does not provide transportation to areas of Lakeland Drive east of Interstate 55 until after 3:45 p.m.

Alphonso Burns, president of the Local 1208 transit union, said JATRAN patrons can receive rides east on Lakeland Drive anytime of day if they call in and request the ride, but nothing on the printed or online schedules gives patrons that information.

"There's been some difficulty in coordinating that with the public. I believe a lot of that is stemming from the lack of information that is given out to the public, first of all, and second of all, the mis-estimation of the demand of the service," Burns said.

Burns requested that the committee change the bus route to include the trip east on Lakeland Drive throughout the day.

"That way you don't have all this confusion because there are too many things happening," Burns said. "(The current system requires) communication between dispatch, communication between ridership, communication between the drivers, communication between the supervisors. All that is nonsense. That's why you (shouldn't) have on-demand service in this kind of metro area with this population."

Taxis Get Hospitality Training
Taxi drivers in Jackson would have to attend hospitality classes as part of a proposal to increase cab fares by $1 per mile under an amendment the Jackson City Council adopted last week. The Jackson Convention and Visitors' Bureau would lead the classes to teach the drivers not to bash the city to riders.

Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, who voted against the amendment, said Tuesday that anyone involved in the field of transportation can give suggestions for hospitality class curricula to him.

"We can make recommendations to the people who are conducting the hospitality training with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, so we can make sure that everything that needs to be in that training is in that training," he said.