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State funding avoids further bus cuts
Orange County Register
An additional round of bus service cuts in Orange County will be avoided as state transit funding was made available through legislation the governor signed late Monday night, officials said Tuesday. "This is obviously something we're very pleased about," said Will Kempton, chief executive officer of the Orange County Transportation Authority. "It will forestall the need to do any additional service cuts going forward." OCTA officials were worried that if state funding didn't come through, an additional round of bus service cuts would have to be made. Since September 2008, OCTA has eliminated 20 percent of bus service. The March service cuts included route eliminations, frequency reductions, and route restructuring. Seven routes were eliminated on weekdays, six on Saturday, and eight on Sunday. Night owl service on four routes was also eliminated.
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Transit districts may avert cuts with tax funds
San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area transit riders - and cash-strapped operators - finally got some good news. The state's decision to free up some funding for public transportation could stave off fare increases and reduce service cuts, transit officials said Tuesday. Muni is moving to shelve plans to raise fares and may reduce or delay planned service cuts, city officials said. BART officials said the money could allow them to start rebuilding its reserves and improving service, and AC Transit officials said the funding could help prevent deep cuts in the future. Nearly every transit agency in the state has suffered over the past three years as the state borrowed, took or eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in public transportation funds. The loss hit especially hard because it came at the same time as the economy caused steep drops in sales tax revenue and ridership. For AC Transit, the state cash won't stop or soften the blow of the 8.5 percent service cuts it will make beginning Sunday, and won't wipe out the projected $56 million deficit it faces for the coming year. But the $13 million the bus system will receive "will hopefully prevent the need for even deeper cuts in the near future," said spokesman Clarence Johnson.
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Foothill Transit bus riders worry about cuts, elimination of area routes
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Many bus riders in eastern Los Angeles county will have to find another way to get a lift if the Foothill Transit Authority has its way. The bus line is proposing the elimination of 20 lines in order to deal with a $12.5 million deficit for the 2010-11 fiscal year due to reduced funding. The economy's downturn and the elimination of the State Transit Assistance program are causing the funding cuts, transit officials said. Service reductions necessitated a $10 million cutback and administrative cost reductions of $2.5 million to help solve the budget deficit problem.
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Sacramento RT declares fiscal emergency
Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Regional Transit officials Monday night declared a fiscal emergency, a key step toward anticipated deep service cuts in June. Beset by a down economy, state budget cuts and reduced ridership, Sacramento County's main transit agency faces a $12 million deficit. That deficit was reduced from $25 million by a bill signed Monday night by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, partially funding California's transit agencies. Officials already have announced they intend to lay off up to 300 of the agency's 1,000 employees by summer. The service reductions are expected to go into effect June 20 and will mean 2 million fewer transit boardings annually.
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