Another successful broadcast has come and gone, and I'm proud to announce that the program had its first interview! I spoke to Steve Larson, the new director of the Helena Area Transit Service (HATS), about how the program serves the city, his vision for its future, and what needs to happen for us to get there. As it stands right now, the service is broken down into a fixed route and a curbside pickup service. The pickup service reaches the all of Helena, but the fixed route serves a relatively limited area of the city, leaving out some neighborhoods on the east and west sides of the city. These areas are important to getting new riders for future operations, but how to get them is the big question. There is a proposed creation of a transit district, which would levy a tax on homes above a certain value threshold to provide funding for new equipment and routes, which could be on a ballot as early as this summer. Other ideas include creating new fixed routes that have been known to be successful in the past, such as a government complex pilot program that saw over 10,000 rides given over its one year operation. In either case, there is a need to know where the new riding constituency is coming from to better accommodate future expansions and this is one of the goals that Larson has set. There will also need to be a change in the proportion of fixed route services to curbside pickups, as pickups are the least efficient use of the shuttle vehicles. Moving forward, HATS will need to find the right balance of services to make sure that it is operating as efficiently as possible!
Also don't forget about the music! Here is last night's playlist:
The Flaming Lips - Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (4:51)
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (3:57)
Animal Collective - Bluish (5:14)
Beach House - Zebra (4:49)
Vampire Weekend - Horchata (3:27)
The Morning Benders - Excuses (5:17)
TV On The Radio - Killer Crane (6:15)
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (5:26)
Band of Horses - The Funeral (5:22)
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill (3:50)
The Virgins - One Week of Danger (2:45)
The Black Keys - Next Girl (3:18)
