Cedar Rapids Archives » Page 5 of 7

07May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Transit blog, day five

Gazette Blog

Morning commutes made easy Since I rode the last Route 5S bus out of the transit hub, it’s only fair that I would also board the first Route 5S bus out of Marion Square this morning. As you might expect, it was a mostly quiet commute. While I was the only person waiting at the bus stop, there were about five people already riding the bus when I boarded at 7:05 a.m. Moving along First Avenue, we picked up several more, with very few exiting. By the time we arrived at the downtown transit hub shortly after 7:30 a.m., the bus was nearly full. Because of the way deadlines fall, I’ve already filed my Saturday column that gets printed in the paper. It discusses how difficult it can be to…

06May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Transit blog, day four

Featured, Gazette Blog

Does the metro really value all residents? Only a few seats were filled on the Route 5S bus Wednesday night when I boarded for the last trip out of the transit hub in Cedar Rapids. Since buses on Route 5 are heavily used, the lack of passengers was initially puzzling. A few more boarded the bus as it worked its way along First Avenue, headed to Marion, but not very many. After thinking about it last night, and again this morning (while riding a full Route 5 bus into downtown), I’ve come to the conclusion that bus passengers were sparse because it was the last route of the day. There were no more opportunities remaining for someone to travel to the store for a gallon of milk or to go…

05May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Transit blog, day three

Gazette Blog

Who are the people in your neighborhood? Remember yesterday when I warned that today’s transit blog installment might arrive a little late? Even I didn’t expect it would be quite this late, but today was busy and fruitful. This morning I had the pleasure of visiting with other transit riders while waiting on and riding the city bus. “I love the bus,” Marion resident Ann Roberts told me while we rested on a bench at the Marion Square bus stop. She lives on 35th Street, just down the road from the Marion Hy-Vee, and has been a part of the community for two years, having moved here from the Quad Cities. At age 67 — “soon to be 68" — Ann has never had a driver’s license, and relies on…

04May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Transit blog, day two

Gazette Blog

All routes lead downtown If you want to ride in Cedar Rapids, you can’t escape the hub. My not-so-stellar Monday kept true to form as I made my way back home to Marion last night. Initially, I thought I’d walk to street level at The Gazette office and catch the Route 3 bus, ride it to First Avenue and 19th Street and then transfer to either Route 5S or 5N for the return trip to Marion. The plan was possible, but ultimately not practical because of the timing. Route 3 stops near that intersection 30 minutes before either of the other buses arrive. Making the transfer requires crossing busy First Avenue on foot and waiting at the Route 5 bus stop. There’s a bench at that location, but not much…

03May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Transit blog, day one

Gazette Blog

Not off to a stellar start This Monday morning lived up to its bad reputation. And, no, it wasn’t completely the fault of Cedar Rapids’ public transit. Nonetheless, let’s start this off on a good note: I didn’t have to charter an ark or a speedboat to get to the bus stop. The rain finally agreed to a much-needed break, and I was crazy grateful for a blue sky and a few sunbeams. I had a simple agenda planned for the first day of my public transit experiment. I wanted to catch the bus in uptown Marion, ride to the transit hub in downtown Cedar Rapids and switch buses for another short ride to the bus stop about a block from The Gazette. Before anyone points this out, I’m perfectly…

02May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Time to rethink Cedar Rapids public golf

Gazette Column

It should come down the basic economic principle of supply and demand. People are simply no longer playing golf at the rate they once were. That’s true in Cedar Rapids as it is throughout the country. Municipal courses — many the result of residential developer deals during the 1990s that gifted courses to municipalities — have relied more and more heavily on taxpayer subsidies. Supply has outpaced demand, resulting in deficits. That’s a problem when a community has a single public golf course. It’s a disaster when a community operates four — more than any other community in Iowa — that compete against a dozen privately run courses and country clubs. Des Moines has three municipal courses, as does Waterloo and Davenport. In some cities, like Des Moines, local officials…

01May 2016 by Lynda Waddington

C.R. transit consumers speak out

Gazette Column

Last week I announced a C.R. transit experiment, and asked readers for their advice and suggestions. They didn’t disappoint. With new money soon arriving for public transit services in Cedar Rapids, many local groups are studying all aspects of what currently exists. Surveys have been completed. Public meetings have been held. Yet my experience is that most of the people who seek and are elected to public office — those folks that tend to hold the purse strings for public transportation — have few, if any, firsthand experiences of what it is like to use and rely on public transit. So, I announced last week that I’ll be riding city buses, beginning the week of May 1, as if I was part of a one-car family. Alternate transportation would only be…

25Apr 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Veteran who died at Normandy finally honored

Featured, Gazette Column

No one knows exactly how many veterans are buried in cemeteries in the Corridor without headstones or other markers of their sacrifice. On this day, however, we know there is one less. Leonard L. Kelly, area veterans believe, may be the only Cedar Rapidian to receive mortal wounds on the beaches of Normandy during the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of World War II. He suffered for two weeks before dying, according to War Department communication with his family. It took another five years before his body was returned to Iowa and subsequently buried in Cedar Memorial Cemetery. What happened afterward is mostly a mystery. [caption id="attachment_775" align="alignright" width="300"] Elmer P. Kelly, brother to World War II Sgt. Leonard L. Kelly, made application for a military headstone or marker in…

24Apr 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Calling all CR Transit riders

Gazette Column

When was the last time you took a ride on a city bus? If you are like the city council and school board candidates I’ve asked, the answer is “not lately,” “ahhh,” or “can’t remember.” Regular riders often fall into two categories: those who are most passionate and those who are most needy. About five years ago, with a wrecked vehicle and no steady job, I had a toe in each bucket, and decided our family could manage with only one car. My husband would drive to work, and I’d ride the bus. The plan was nearly ditched the first day when I needed to visit Linn County offices, then located at Westdale Mall. After seeing the children off to school, I walked to the closest bus stop from our…

11Apr 2016 by Lynda Waddington

Recovery slow for Congolese immigrants

Gazette Column

Caring for dead, injured depleting community's resources They had only been in the United States for a few weeks when an encounter with a patch of ice in the early morning hours of Feb. 4 changed everything. Nancy Lusemo, Serge Baketela and Mirielle Mbambi were three of nine people carpooling in a minivan and on their way to work in Tama when the vehicle lost control on the ice. They survived, which should make them the “lucky” ones, but the moniker smacks of indecency. Three were transported to area hospitals and released relatively quickly. Three others — Michka Kebeya, Platini Namputu and Dickson Mandiki — died in the four-vehicle crash. Kebeya was Lusemo’s husband. The couple and their five-year-old son had only been in Iowa about two months. All of…