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Metrolink fares going up 6 percent
Daily News Los Angeles
Faced with falling ridership and a $17 million budget shortfall, the Metrolink board Friday gave preliminary approval to raising train fares by 6 percent. But the board backed off a plan to reduce the number of commuter trains it runs through the San Fernando Valley and other regions. It decided to eliminate only four trains - two each on the Ventura County and San Bernardino lines - instead of the 12 that had been originally proposed.
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AC Transit eyes more service cuts
Oakland Tribune
AC Transit riders could see bus service slashed a second time this year because of the public transit agency's continuing financial problems. Administrators this week unveiled options for cutting service up to 8 percent by September, about the same severity as cuts carried out March 28. The bus system carries 260,000 riders each weekday in western Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The AC Transit board tonight will consider scheduling a May 26 hearing to hear public comment about the board's next step: declaring a financial emergency to allow speedy approval of the cuts. In this round of cuts, the district would look at three options: reducing both weekday and weekend service, slashing weekend service back to core routes and slashing night service. AC Transit officials said the bus system continues to struggle because of cuts in state financial assistance and depressed sales tax revenues amid the poor economy.
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L.A.'s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will let public speak on fare hikes
Daily News Los Angeles
Amid protests that transit fare hikes would hurt the poor and minorities, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority declined Thursday to rescind a series of rate increases scheduled for July 1, but scheduled a special meeting to allow public complaints. Unless the hikes are rescinded in a two-thirds board vote, the one-way cash fare for buses and trains will increase from $1.25 to $1.50, a daily pass will rise from $5 to $6 and the monthly pass will jump from $62 to $75. The fares for seniors, those with disabilities, Medicare recipients and students will remain the same through 2013.
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Caltrain data shows path to bankruptcy without electric railroad
San Jose Mercury News
Declaring an electric railroad its only chance at salvation, Caltrain officials on Thursday released the most-detailed projections yet of the rail line's bleak financial picture: $47 million in debt next year — with a gap that will grow by about $1.6 million a year. With electric trains, Caltrain could expand commute-time service and collect 49 percent more money while keeping expenses roughly flat, according to a new financial forecast the agency compiled at the request of the Bay Area News Group. Under its current service with diesel trains, the commuter line would be losing $61 million by 2019 — half of what it would need to operate.
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Region begins new drive to curb greenhouse gases
San Jose Mercury News
Four regional agencies have launched a major drive to rein in greenhouse gas pollution by reducing vehicle use, increasing public transit use and promoting compact development in the Bay Area's nine counties. Cities and counties will be asked to designate areas for developing compact housing and businesses in established areas with good access to rail lines, buses and ferries. Transit and land-use planners will be asked to determine how they can jointly help the Bay Area meet vehicle travel reduction targets to be set by the California Air Resources Board. The plan is required by 2013 under Senate Bill 375, which California lawmakers passed two years ago in a bid to reduce greenhouse gases. "Decision-making about land use is about to change," said Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, also a member of regional transportation and pollution boards. "Change is coming. We need to do it right or there will be a lot of people upset and there will be a backlash."
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