Editor,
I recently read your column about Savannah's CAT program. Seeing how much its Executive Director "earns" really brings to the forefront some problems that I have noticed with CAT as a new Savannah resident, problems that REALLY need to be talked about if their Executive Director makes substantially more than the governor of Georgia (how ridiculous!)
Even if we disregard the absolute impossibility of using Savannah's public transit system if you live in Thunderbolt (which I do) and if you would like to go downtown or come home from downtown after 7 pm — which as a SCAD student and someone who works in Ellis Square, I certainly need to — it is difficult to miss the poor state of the buses themselves.
I use the buses daily and literally half the time I observe that the fare machines on various buses on various routes, don't even work. Essentially everyone gets a free ride. While I think free public transit should be available in all cities (how liberal of me!), obviously convenience is not on the minds of the people paying an Executive Director $240,000 a year. The buses are dirty and uninviting, and very few people actually want to ride them (except when the buses can't accept money, then everyone wants to ride!)
The CAT program in Savannah is appalling and is need of massive restructuring. A restructuring that might just cost $240,000 or more.
Amanda Stone
