Monday, January 26, 2015

Transit, the entrepreneur, the rider, the creative … a remarkable ride


Below I am posting again, “A community of One and the Entrepreneur” (March 14, 2014). I feel it is an idea worth revisiting. Several small task forces of transit, bus riders, entrepreneurs, community marketers (the creatives), merging ideas could produce transit trendsetting results… that’s fun, well-funded and superbly functional.

The Ozarks is known as a one-of-a-kind attraction. Why not make transit a one-of-a-kind transit system. That stands out, that others talk about, that’s remarkable.

Exceptional things, get exceptional attention, that attracts exceptional funding.

(Posted March 14, 2014, Transit Transformed … Community of One and the Entrepreneur.)

Grabbed 2 downtown, then hopped on 5 to the Hammons Tower. Took care of some business quickly and came out to catch the other 5 coming back to downtown. While sitting there on the bus bench enjoying the beautiful spring-like day, the thoughts of how people get money to do things was going through my mind. I wondered how many business dollars are generated alone through this big, tall, black business tower behind me.

Dollars are harder to get these days and Transit is fighting for the available dollars too. All across the country I hear it is getting more competitive to get the same Federal, State money being allocated to public transit(with less to go around). Having access to public transportation is viewed by many as equal to our right to free speech in America. But how can it be funded?

While sitting there my mind went back to a conversation I had many years ago with one of the founders of Evangel University, Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft. He was asked to go to a college in the East to help them pay off a million dollar debt. This was probably 30-40 years ago. He took a year’s salary of one dollar. And in one year had them well on the way to having the debt paid off. I asked him how he did it. He said he got everyone working together as one team. He asked the faculty to eat lunch with the students, included the faculty to interact with the administration to solve problems, enlisted student insights, got outside suppliers involved, and created an atmosphere, and function, of one unit all working toward the same goal.

Then I began creating parallels. What if that could be done in a city and everyone worked as a community of one for providing public transit?
What if the bus drivers with some business experience met to come up with new ideas of securing, or building revenue streams to fund the bus service. The Transit leadership/staff interact with this drivers’ think-tank group and kick around possibilities.

Get the community involved in another think-tank, include bus passengers and non-bus passengers. Stir that in the mix.

Add three of the areas accomplished entrepreneurs to be a think-tank group to come up with innovations for funding public transportation that could be a perpetual, self-generating system for new revenues, but still have low fares for the bus passenger. Combine the minds of entrepreneurs accustomed to working with 9-figure budgets to vision new ways to do things… ways relevant to our culture today and where it is going.
(Maybe they would work for a dollar a year each to see if they could come up with some funding innovations… innovations that would constantly generate revenue, make transportation available to all, and produce a fun, functional, nationally-noticed, eye-catching transit system.)

Use the entrepreneurs as the point men (persons... there are great women entrepreneurs as well) to bring all the concepts together. Homogenize all factors to one unit of thought in that the community, transit services became as one in mind, spirit, heart.

Napoleon Hill, in researching entrepreneurs in the early 1900’s, said they found great success when all people involved in a situation worked in harmony, as one mind, with each other. Joint minds birthed a master-mind which produced outstanding invention to solve problems.
Jesus said we “will do greater things”… He was referring to His Disciples that as a unit they would surpass His accomplishments (as One in Spirit).

As One we can believe for and expect Greater things.

I boarded 5 heading downtown. On the way, I saw all the construction going on transforming some of the old office buildings into a new concept of downtown. We may be entering a season of greatness for all.


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