Bellingham WA Versus The Queen City

This is a message I just sent to City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri:

For the past couple of years, I've lived in Bellingham, WA after moving here from Chicago, but I grew up in Springfield, MO, where my mother still lives. Today I satisfied my curiosity about how Springfield compared with Bellingham, in terms of a paratransit service for disabled people. (I had two mini-strokes in 2011 and 2012, and I walk with a cane, when I am not taking the paratransit van provided by the WTA a/k/a Whatcom Transit Authority.)

I'm glad to see that Springfield has a comparable service, in case I decide to visit my mother. But WOW! You charge a lot more for those rides. Right now, I'm using a monthly pass which costs $13 for people who qualify for medical reasons. In fact, if I make two medical appointments a month, the Northwest Regional Council mails me such a pass for FREE! You can't get much better than that. Makes me glad I am living in Bellingham, WA instead of the town in which I grew up.

The less expensive transit costs there in Springfield isn't the only way in which Springfield is inferior to Bellingham, by the way.