The drastic service cuts announced by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday are just the tip of the iceberg. All across the country, mass transit agencies face painful choices as they struggle to close budget gaps caused by falling ridership and revenue.
Last week in Chicago, unionized transit workers staged a noisy protest outside Chicago Transit Authority headquarters against service cuts proposed to take effect in February. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority will hold hearings this week on a proposal to eliminate one of every eight bus trips systemwide and dramatically curtail weekend and evening service. And a combination of falling ridership and cuts in state funding are leading San Diego County transit agencies to consider additional cuts in service on top of previous cuts and fare hikes.
Not even smaller communities are immune to the crunch. Fixed-route bus service in Elyria and Lorain County, Ohio, was saved only after the State of Ohio transferred Federal funds intended for but never spent on other state transportation projects to the state's mass transit systems. Public transit in Virginia will take a $9 million hit as part of an $88 million statewide cut in transportation spending. And mass transit agencies in rural Minnesota face the unkindest cut of all: having to cope with rising ridership and falling funding at the same time.
The source of these problems is the same: declining revenues related to the economic downturn. Declines in ridership mean less farebox revenue, which in turn forces agencies to adjust budget projections downward. In addition, many mass transit agencies are supported by dedicated local taxes such as the sales taxes that support mass transit in many California cities. In most of these areas, retail sales have also fallen, thus reducing tax revenues for mass transit. With most transit agencies reluctant to raise fares during a recession, service cuts -- some drastic, as in New York City -- are just about the only remaining choice.
Some do not agree: the unionized transit workers in Chicago maintain that service can be spared by cutting administrative costs and executive salaries. The New York MTA has cut both management salaries and the size of its administrative staff as part of its overall budget cuts, but not even those were sufficient to prevent major cuts in service, including the elimination of free fares for school trips that had been offered since the late 1940s.
The months ahead promise only more of the same, as the recovery on Wall Street has yet to take hold on Main Street. Until it does, transit riders can expect longer waits for service and maybe even higher fares down the line.
An earlier version of this story erroneously reported that the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh was implementing cuts in service. The route restructurings being implemented next spring will reduce service on some routes, but offsetting increases on more heavily used routes will result in no net loss of service. We regret the error.
Written by Sandy Smith
Exclusive to HULIQ.com
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
