Aug. 7—A motorcycle accident took the life of the founder of the only cab company in Longview-Kelso Friday, and as of Tuesday night voters had shot down creating a permanent bus route between Longview and Lexington in early election results.
For people with disabilities or no vehicles, living without reliable transportation in the growing unincorporated areas outside cities can be frightening.
Robby Nichols, who is blind and lives in Lexington, said he didn't know what his options would be if the Longview-based taxi company closed and the measure to create a permanent Lexington bus route fails.
"I'm probably going to have to look at moving or something," he said. "I've got to keep working, and go to the doctor's and things."
Results as of about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday show about 54% of voters rejected including Lexington and Beacon Hill into RiverCities Transit's coverage area, as well the corresponding sales tax to pay for the route.
Leslie Gomez of Longview was engaged to the owner of the area's sole taxi company, Lucky Knights Taxi.
She said Wednesday the business was closed for a few days after owner John Lucky Knight's death on Friday, but reopened Monday because locals, including the employees, rely on the business.
"Drivers have bills to pay, children to feed. Everyone relies on this business. I couldn't just keep it closed," she said. "Lucky would have wanted us to continue his legacy and continue to help the people in this community."
A growing need
RiverCities bus route 411 has been running from downtown Longview to West Side Highway, through Beacon Hill to Lexington, for about two years as a pilot project paid by a state grant.
As the unincorporated areas outside Longview and Kelso grow, more transit options are likely needed, said Transit Director Jim Seeks.
The U.S. Census reports 3,834 people live in Lexington — more than in Castle Rock or Kalama. Beacon Hill has 2,211 residents, closer to the size of the latter small cities.
Cowlitz County reports those unincorporated areas have seen more growth in the past 20 years than Longview or Kelso.
Longview Councilmember MaryAlice Wallis, who is on the Cowlitz Transit Authority Board, doesn't foresee the need for the bus route or Lexington's growth ending.
"I'm a bit disappointed, but it's up to the voters," she said.
Only voters in Beacon Hill and Lexington could weigh in on the annexation measure on Tuesday's ballot.
The Cowlitz Transit Authority Board voted in April to send the measure to the primary ballot to gauge if voters in Beacon Hill and Lexington wanted to permanently continue the RiverCities bus route and create a funding source of a 0.3% sales tax to pay for it.
The new tax would have added three cents to every $10 purchase in Beacon Hill and Lexington, but would not be added to food or prescriptions, according to the county voters' guide.
"Pretty minor hit on the pocketbooks for a service people are using," Seeks said.
The annexation would have also added individual rides for eligible disabled residents within three-quarters of a mile of West Side Highway in Beacon Hill and Lexington.
Seeks said the route's riders have been growing, with 542 people using the service in July. The closest route to those ridership numbers goes through parts of Kelso to the Seventh Avenue Walmart with 742 riders in July, he added.
Seeks said the Lexington route will remain open until the board can hold a public hearing in September to eliminate it, if that is what voters ultimately decide. He said there has been no discussion to put the measure on November ballots.
Knight's legacy
Gomez said people rely on Lucky Knights Taxi to go to critical appointments, from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to court hearings. One passenger is regularly taken to chemotherapy treatments.
Knight, who started the business last year, collided with a semitruck in Kelso Friday at South Pacific Avenue and Hawthorne Street, Gomez said. He died instantly of blunt-force trauma after just turning 39 a few weeks prior.
Knight often offered discounts to those short on cash but in need of a ride because "he would do anything for anyone in need," she added.
Gomez said the couple have seen other cab companies and rideshares like Uber fail in the less populated area, with fewer options to make money.
"We're the only one in town," she said. "That's why we are so important."
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