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AC Transit service changes to take effect soon
Oakland Tribune
Major changes are in store for AC Transit riders starting March 28 as the bus agency rolls out new routes and schedules aimed at reducing costs. In central and southern Alameda County, more than a dozen bus lines will be discontinued and replaced — mostly with shorter routes, several of which will run less frequently. AC Transit will cut service by about 8 percent to help close a $57 million deficit.
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Transit Operators Hopeful State Diesel Tax Will Create Stable Funding
Streetsblog Network
Transit operators are supporting two bills (ABX8 6 and ABX8 9) that would do as the Governor proposed by eliminating the sales tax on gasoline, but would retain the sales tax on diesel. Rather than cry foul, lobbyists for those operators worked with legislators to develop the bills. California Transit Association (CTA) Communications Director Jeff Wagner said with the legislature and the Governor thwarting the law and the will of the voters for years by raiding the the State Transit Assistance fund (STA), which is fed in part by the sales tax on gasoline (as well as the sales tax on diesel and other sources), and with Supreme Court rulings in the CTA's favor doing little to change the situation, his organization was taking steps to secure some kind of steady state funding for operators. "Our fundamental position is in opposition to the elimination of the sales tax [on gasoline], but that has long seemed a foregone conclusion," said Wagner. "Given that lay of the land, we've worked with the legislature to get some level of funding for public transit. What this package does give us is the ability for transit to get funding that it isn't currently getting."
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Lawmakers give and take from Bay Area public transit operators
Contra Costa Times
Two budget bills passed by California lawmakers this week will eliminate one big money source for public transit operators — the sales tax on gasoline — but provide other funds to partially offset the loss. Bay Area transit operators are unhappy about the loss of gasoline sales-tax revenue that is part of a tax swap that increases the per-gallon tax on gas. The swap will not change the taxes that consumers pay at the pump. Lawmakers sent the bills to the governor's desk Thursday for his approval or veto. Operators, however, are pleased that lawmakers provided $400 million in the next fiscal year for transit systems statewide to help avoid further fare increases and service cuts in hard financial times... "This is good news, particularly when the governor and the state had previously said we weren't going to get any state money at all for the next three to five years," said AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson. "But it's not enough to get us completely out of the woods."
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Metrolink proposing cutbacks
Daily News Los Angeles
Trying to close an $11 million to $20 million budget shortfall, Metrolink is considering a plan to raise fares by 3 to 6 percent and discontinue dozens of low-ridership weekend and weekday commuter train lines. The cuts would come on most of the Southern California rail agency's lines, including those serving the San Fernando Valley, Antelope Valley and Ventura County...Although the majority of the proposed fare increases would be between 3 to 6 percent, a small number of stations could see increases of up to 10 percent. Metrolink has also proposed a variety of changes in fares, including 10-trip tickets, round trip tickets, senior and student discounts, military tickets, weekend fare discounts and off-peak fares. Metrolink has already saved tens of millions of dollars by reducing overhead, freezing hiring and through administrative efficiencies, [Metrolink board member Richard] Katz said. He said some layoffs may be necessary too.
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Riders tell board they'd feel cuts to Sacramento RT, Paratransit deeply
Sacramento Bee
As Sacramento Regional Transit faces what may be its deepest bus and rail cuts ever later this month, it's clear even the least-ridden weekend buses are sacred to some. The agency, faced with a $25 million budget deficit amid recession and state funding cuts, is expected to decide March 22 what it must do to bridge that gap. During a five-hour hearing Monday night, rider after rider implored the RT board to understand the meaning of potential cuts – especially weekend service and Paratransit rides for disabled people...Speakers at the Monday hearing, many of them disabled, described RT and Paratransit buses as equal parts liberty, freedom, inalienable right and lifestyle...If the RT service is pared down too much, it could worsen the region's air quality projections, and cause federal officials to refuse to fund new road projects. The agency's $25 million budget deficit could be reduced in the coming days to about $13 million, officials said, if Gov. Schwarzenegger signs a Democratic bill freeing up some state reserves for transit.
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