The cost of gas and operating a personal car makes mass transit an attractive alternative. Your “General fund support could help regional transit” was timely. Hopefully, it sparks a much-needed conversation, leading to improved transportation throughout Central Oregon.

Your editorial gave the impression that the city of Bend gains nothing by contributing the largest share of the non-grant transportation funds. Yes, out of the county and local matching funds, Bend contributes 50.6 percent, but Bend equals 39 percent of the total tri-county population. Bend is also the manufacturing, medical and shopping center for Central Oregon. As such, it gains from reliable transportation, bringing employees, shoppers and patients to Bend. Those employers and merchants contribute considerable tax dollars to the city of Bend. Shoppers and patients from outside Bend help keep city residents employed. Public transportation is a win-win for all.

The editorial correctly stated that the city of La Pine contributes zero dollars toward public transportation. The Deschutes County Citizen’s Action Group stepped up to the plate to keep public transportation alive in the La Pine area. We provided $5,000 in matching funds for the next two years when the La Pine City Council voted no.

Our 60- to 80-year-old citizens, some with disabilities and many who are veterans, raised most of this year’s money by withstanding eight-hour shifts at the Cascade Lakes Relay, freezing at night and baking in the afternoon. In addition, two CAG members represent the La Pine Basin on transportation advisory committees, donating their time to represent all of us. There is strong interest in the La Pine basin in keeping transportation alive; it just comes from a source outside the city of La Pine.

Your editorial did not report the full transportation funding picture. Much of the transportation revenue comes from grant and contract dollars. For instance, the $5,000 CAG pledged, helped bring in about $50,000 in grant monies, which would have been lost without matching funds. Out of $8.4 million in annual transit revenue, 23 percent was from local funds, 13 percent from bus fares and the remaining 64 percent from grant and contract sources.

The transportation needs are great in Central Oregon. Many parts of the region have high unemployment and poverty rates. Our percentage of seniors and veterans is much higher than the state average, with some census blocks at almost 50 percent. People need reliable transportation to school, work, medical care and to shop. We have a long way to go to meet our residents’ transit needs.

We need bus routes and times that match employers’ locations and schedules, buses friendly to shoppers, expanded college routes and routes friendly to medical appointments. In addition, many in the La Pine area lost access to public transit due to budget cuts. People in north Klamath County and the Sunriver area are without public transit and deserve service for the same reasons as the rest of us. Unfortunately, this all takes money that the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council lacks. I applaud COIC for its hard work, attempting to meet Central Oregon’s transit needs. But there is much more to be done.

I suspect voters need to see the benefit from public transportation before committing their hard-earned money toward higher property taxes — even if it would only be in the form of a modest tax increase. Until we meet our residents’ transit needs with expanded service and better connectivity, it will probably be hard to persuade voters to raise property taxes. It’s a vicious circle; it will take all of us working together to arrive at viable solutions.