By Donna Riley-Lein
Independent Staff Writer

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Tired of hopping into a car for every errand and to get to work? Looking for ways to get around, especially city to city that might not break the family budget?

Members of the Baldwin County Public Transit Coalition might have an answer. The group held a meeting Tuesday, Oct. 21 at the Baldwin County Annex in Robertsdale. The group was founded in 2004. Their Web site can be found at baldwinptc.org.

Recent events have shown the need for improved mass transit.

“Gas was $2 a gallon when we started this,” said Darrelyn Bender, then the president of the group. Bender is also the CEO of the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce. “Now look where we have ended up.”

Of course, getting people and the federal government to change habits is difficult. Bender says the group works with the County Commission, businesses, health care providers and others to raise awareness of mass transit in the county.

“It is a puzzle.” Bender said.

The group has had some notable successes, added Bender. She says the group has had a high-speed ferry demonstration, distributed flyers and brochures, and has held four regional transit conferences.

One of the biggest goals of the “grassroots” group is to get train service between Baldwin County and Mobile,” Bender told the group.

But some thing have to be fixed first.

“The last time there was train service between Mobile and New Orleans was for the World’s fair,” said Bender.

That was 1984.

The meeting heard from Elizabeth Stevens Saunders, the executive director of the Downtown Mobile Alliance and a commissioner of the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission.

“We need to reinvent transportation for the 21st century,” said Saunders.

While the Interstate system seemed to be a good idea, it was built on a “Paradigm of cheap energy,” said Saunders. She added that the system has led to sprawl and “subjugation to the automobile.”

She says that rail and barge transportation, long-ignored modes are “more economical.”

Unfortunately, the amount of track seems to be decreasing. Railroads have ben shedding lines, so that the amount of track available has been decreasing.

“The mood is ripe for change,” Saunders said.

Part of the problem is money. Saunders explained that, for example, all of Alabama’s gasoline taxes could only be spent on roads.

And while the push is on to locate more oil and natural gas in this country, Saunders notes that burgeoning economies in India and China and increased demand in Europe means pressure on those energy sources.

However, Saunders sees some bright spots, including a multi-county system in North Carolina and busy rail service between Milwaukee and Chicago.

“We want to restore service between Mobile and New Orleans and add a line to Baton Rouge,” sad Saunders, adding that such a line would be useful evacuating people should a hurricane threaten.

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