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BART debates whether to raise fares, lay off workers
Oakland Tribune
Halfway through its 12-month budget cycle, two BART board members have proposed adding a nickel or dime to the fare for trips through the Transbay Tube between Oakland and San Francisco. BART managers last week also proposed notifying 74 workers that their jobs will be eliminated by June 30. The actual number of layoffs is expected to be 19 employees at most, and possibly fewer because most of the affected jobs are vacant. BART managers estimate the train system will face a $25 million budget shortfall by June 30 despite last year's fare increases and weeknight service cuts, as well as money-saving concessions that employee unions made in a new contract...the outlook for relief dimmed further last week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed permanently taking away hundreds of millions of dollars in state assistance that many public transit systems had hoped to regain.
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SFMTA prepares to chop another 230 positions
San Francisco Examiner
Nearly 200 operators will lose their jobs as part of a new wave of massive layoffs the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is proposing in order to reduce its budget deficit. The SFMTA, which this week is laying off about 30 people and will ax another 78 in two months, wants to trim 230 more positions, including 170 operators. The transit agency, which oversees Muni, is also reducing service in an effort to close a $16.9 million operating shortfall by June 30, the end of this fiscal year. Sonali Bose, chief financial officer for the SFMTA, said the agency has lost $240 million in revenue sources during the past two fiscal years, and has few options left to balance its budget.
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Caltrain to riders: Sorry about the delays
Oakland Tribune
Caltrain has not been chugging along on schedule lately, and the agency wants you to know it's sorry about that...The agency, struggling through continued ridership declines, a fiscal emergency and a recent drop from 98 to 90 daily trains., is also amid perhaps its toughest stretch ever of fatalities.
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Editorial: California governor is playing the gas tax shell game
Oakland Tribune
Amid Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bag of budget tricks is a shell game that seeks to add money to the state's general fund by shortchanging education and transportation...The revenue shift would take hundreds of millions of dollars away from transit systems at a time when they are in dire financial straits...While California drivers might welcome a bit of relief at the gas pump, cutting a significant source of revenue when the state has a $19.9 billion deficit is unconscionable. That's especially true when the result is a loss of funds for cash-strapped schools and transit systems. If gasoline prices rise over the next few years, as is likely, the state will lose even more money without a sales tax that is based on the cost of gasoline. The replacement excise tax is not linked to gasoline prices and does not make up for the lost sales tax revenue. The net impact of Schwarzenegger's shell game would be a state revenue loss of $1 billion, an $800 million cut for schools and hundreds of millions less for transit. That is an unacceptable price to pay simply to create a perception that California's budget is a bit less in the hole.
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Metrolink cuts up to 60% of service on some OC train lines
Transit Rider OC
More sad news for Orange County transit, and one that affects me. In mid-February, Metrolink will cut about 60% of its Inland Empire-Orange County Line weekend service and 50% of its Orange County Line weekend service, plus a mid-day round trip on the Inland Empire-Orange County Line. Metrolink's site has the overall details on how many trains will be cut...
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