Vets criticize CAT service to clinic

Andy Holtmann

Friday, Aug. 15, 1997 | 9:35 a.m.

Some patients using the new Veterans Affairs clinic on the corner of Vegas Drive and Martin Luther King Boulevard say bus transportation to and from the area is insufficient.

Citizen's Area Transit buses make hourly stops near the intersection. For someone who misses a bus, the waiting time could reach up to two hours, a clinic official said.

"There is no way for a veteran to get directly to the clinic using the CAT bus system," said William Mullins, a veteran. "From the downtown transportation center to the clinic, there are a number of transfers."

Mullins said the transfers make it more difficult for veterans and the disabled to get from one place to another. He would like to see a direct bus route leading from the downtown center to the clinic.

Tony Denogean, a Veterans Affairs spokesman, said that when the site was originally scouted as a home for the clinic, bus routes to the area were noted. What officials found when they opened their doors for business on July 29, however, was that it wasn't the routes that were bad but the number of times per hour the buses stopped in the area.

"The routes leading to the area are great," he said. "The frequency of stops is not where we'd like to have it though."

Denogean said talks that hopefully will lead to a solution are going well between CAT and Veterans Affairs.

Stan Wilkerson, of the Regional Transportation Commission, said CAT is doing the best it can.

"Right now service is going to remain hourly," he said. "There are few routes in the city that offer the half-hour service."

Wilkerson said that when CAT gets more buses, then they can look at increasing service to the area. He said he does not expect that to happen anytime soon.

Community service routes make take shape in the future. The routes would serve as special charters for various community groups, providing direct service. Wilkerson said that veterans could most likely use these routes.