Allison Rupp/Special to the News Sentinel Wayne and Ashley Gage board a bus last week to shop for a car. The couple moved to Knoxville several weeks ago from Pennsylvania and have used Knoxville Area Transit buses every day since the move.
Spar Harmon, 70, sets his watch two minutes fast.
That's so he is never late catching the bus.
The bus doesn't wait, and Harmon doesn't want to be late to his part-time job.
Harmon said he had a car most of his life, but after falling on hard times when he moved back to Knoxville in 2008 from the west coast, where he spent most of his adult life, he lost access to a vehicle.
"I went through a series of experiences where I became homeless, destitute, and I brought myself up from that," said Harmon, a Knoxville native.
He found subsidized housing in South Knoxville two years ago and a part-time job through the Senior AIDES Program, which helps older adults with limited incomes find employment.
Part of bringing himself up also meant getting on with life without a car.
He went through his finances and even with a part-time job and Social Security, he couldn't afford a vehicle. "Even if someone gave me a car, I couldn't afford to maintain it, insure it, put gas in it," Harmon said.
Luckily, his Senior AIDES assignment was with Knoxville Area Transit.
Harmon said he never thought much of the bus service, but after learning about the system through his job, he now uses it almost every day.
Looking around empty parking lots in Montgomery Village, Harmon knows people struggle with transportation. The subsidized apartments are full, he said, but few have cars.
For many people, transportation can be a vicious cycle, especially in this economy.
It's difficult to afford a car, insurance, maintenance and gas without a decent-paying job, and it's difficult to find a job and keep it without a working vehicle.
"It can be challenging in Knoxville and other cities like Knoxville where jobs are really spread out," said Belinda Woodiel-Brill, director of marketing for KAT.
Bus use has increased tremendously over the past year, she said.
"Usually, you celebrate a two-three percent increase in transit," Woodiel-Brill said.
About 80 percent of these people are going to and from work, she said.
Some buses now have standing room only on popular routes during busy times, such as morning or between 5 and 6 p.m.
Woodiel-Brill said there are several factors that may have contributed to the increase in people using the bus.
KAT opened a new lead facility in August 2010 with a dining center and covered waiting areas, bringing "dignity and legitimacy" to public transportation in Knoxville, she said. It also made routes more convenient.
"Then, you add to that jobs can be hard to find; money is tighter," Woodiel-Brill said. "Everyone's personal finances are tighter."
People just have less access to personal vehicles, she said.
Woodiel-Brill added that in the 12 years she'd been with KAT, she couldn't recall any incidents of assault or robbery on the buses. She also said people are 170 times safer traveling by bus than automobile, according to the National Safety Council.
Wayne Cunningham of East Tennessee Recovery was hopeful vehicle repossessions were decreasing in late 2010.
"It slowed down the end of last year, but it started picking back up," Cunningham said. "Banks and stuff are not working with the people like they were, not reviewing loans. It's just a sad situation."
His small company repossesses more than 30 vehicles every month.
People are giving up their cars to save their house or put food on the table, Cunningham said. Many times when he goes to pick up a vehicle, a foreclosed sign in already in the front yard.
He hears the same story again and again.
"They say, 'I lost my job,'" Cunningham said. "I'm trying to hang onto my house as much as I can."
Karen Estes, senior manager of Knox County CAC Transit, said more than 253,000 Knox County residents live outside the urbanized boundary of Knoxville and don't have easy access to KAT.
For many of them, their only option is to see if Knox County CAC Transit can help.
CAC Transit has limited funding and can do only so many trips each day. They must serve senior citizens and people with disabilities first.
Currently, 78 people ride to and from work on CAC Transit daily. The work program is full now but depending on where people need to go, the transit might be able to squeeze someone in on an already planned route, Estes said.
"We have people wanting to go to work everyday who we just can't serve," Estes said.
She said her office has seen in increase in calls from people needing transportation.
People can use CAC Transit on a ride-by-ride basis to get to and from job interviews, doctor's appointments, grocery shopping or Tennessee Career Center, Estes said. They just have to call ahead for a bus appointment. They are usually booked three days in advance.
She said they really try to take people to job interviews.
"We do our best to get them there," Estes said. "But if you get a job, we can't guarantee to help get you there."
Both KAT and CAC Transit can be cost-prohibitive if someone is on a really limited budget. CAC Transit costs $3 each way, and KAT costs $1.50, or 75 cents for seniors, people with disabilities or school-age children.
KAT recently cut its Senior FREEdom program, which allowed senior citizens to ride for free.
East Tennessee Human Resources Agency also offers transit service similar to CAC for people in the county and surrounding counties.
Help with gas and car maintenance can be a lot more difficult to find in Knoxville, nonprofit leaders said.
Homeward Bound, a Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee program helping those without homes, offers gas cards and bus passes, but it's only for clients, said Mimi Vivio, program manager.
However, she said many churches help people with gas cards or car repair. People should call their local churches to see what might be available.
A program funded through United Way helps with car repair for working poor, but it is only for people with mental illness. It is operated out of Peninsula Behavioral Health.
If people find themselves without a car in Knoxville, Harmon said there are alternatives if people are willing to invest time and energy.
"I felt deprived without a car at first," Harmon said. "There are alternatives. Most people would never take them. If you have to, you can get pretty creative, but people are very stubborn about having a car."
If it's nice outside and he can find a bike-safe route, Harmon rides his electric-assist bicycle. He was able to find room in his budget to buy one last year.
He uses it to grocery shop, pick up prescriptions and run errands. It's too far to ride his bike to his job at KAT.
Many people in his neighborhood ask neighbors or friends for rides. Someone might pay two quarters for a neighbor to take him to the grocery.
Harmon said he is glad he doesn't have a car now, and has had to think outside the box for transportation.
"I would like to be mobile into my 80s," Harmon said. "I am 70 now."
With his electric-assist bicycle, bus pass and fast watch, his goal is much more reachable.
© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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October 9, 2011 7:43 p.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
I'm tired of seeing KAT buses run red lights. I would have thought that killing a pedestrian might have inspired them to stop the practice.
October 9, 2011 10:34 p.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
PetulantVolwrites:
I have yet to see a KAT bus with more than 5 or 6 people at a time on it. That is unless it is going to or from UT. I think KAT should downsize their busses to the smaller models and expand their range into the county. Either that or the state needs to look into a light rail system which would be useful also to travel from here to Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.
October 9, 2011 10:57 p.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
Infidelwrites:
drove by 2 kat buses before and after 5 both empty but the driver. See them at UT all the time empty. Waste of money waste of taxes, waste period. Whomever becomes Mayor should shut them down. Walking is not crowded
October 9, 2011 11:09 p.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
scruffylittlearchitectwrites:
HAHA....everyone who has commented previously probably has NEVER ridden public transportation more than once or twice. How naïve to make such claims of waste when you think it serves such a small population...LOOK AT THE NUMBERS clearly stated earlier in the article - and the "running the redlight" issue relies more that a bus cannot stop or slam on it's brakes like a car and as for pedestrians the rule is to still look before you walk even if the walk signal is in your favor.
October 10, 2011 1:12 a.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
MEDIA_WATCHDOGwrites:
in response to PetulantVol :
I have yet to see a KAT bus with more than 5 or 6 people at a time on it. That is unless it is going to or from UT. I think KAT should downsize their busses to the smaller models and expand their range into the county. Either that or the state needs to look into a light rail system which would be useful also to travel from here to Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.
If you love $7.00 and $8.00 gasoline, or a 15% sales tax, or $1800 per year car tags, then light rail and intra-state heavy rail are just for you.
Be VERY about suggesting multi-billion dollar transit systems until you fully understand their massive capital and operating costs.
October 10, 2011 1:42 a.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
MEDIA_WATCHDOGwrites:
Be VERY careful about.....
Fixes omitted word.
October 10, 2011 2:19 a.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
keeso1writes:
@ Scruffy couldn't have said it better myself! And oh by the way Kat didn't cut the senior program Burchet did!! (remember that seniors)
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