Do You Think the U.S. Post Office Should Cut Door-to-Door Delivery?

If Congress gets its way the postman may not even ring once in future, according to a Reuters story reported by NBC. 

Although most in the local area already get curbside and not front door delivery, NBC reports that 30 million homes in the U.S. get door-to-door delivery and another 50 million get curbside delivery. Others already get cluster box delivery. According to a proposal in Congress, the plan is to move most of the country to cluster box delivery, beginning with new developments. The cost differences are quite significant, NBC reports. It currently costs the U.S. Postal Service $353 per year for each door-to-door delivery per address, $224 for curbside, but only $160 per address for cluster box delivery. 

With the embattled agency struggling to find ways to survive, shifting to all curbside would reportedly save $4 billion annually. Shifting to cluster box delivery would result in an annual saving of $6 billion. With so many people now using electronic ways of communication, USPS is no longer able to make enough income to cover its costs. On its current path, the agency would require a $50 billion federal bailout by 2017. It is currently not supported by taxpayers.

Not everyone is happy with the plan, however. There are elderly and handicapped who would find it difficult to get mail regularly under a cluster box or even a curbside plan. Special arrangements could be made or people could still get door-to-door delivery, for an additional cost. Cutting Saturday delivery was proposed by the USPS last year as a way to cut costs, but Congress nixed that plan. 

So which plan do you think makes most sense - eventually moving to cluster box delivery nationwide? Or delivering just five, or possibly even fewer, days per week?