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Rail News Home Passenger Rail

3/5/2010



Rail News: Passenger Rail

SacRT ponders more service cuts to bridge budget gap; California considers transit funding bill


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The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) will hold a public hearing on Monday to discuss proposed light-rail, bus and paratransit service changes the agency might implement in June to address a $13 million budget shortfall in fiscal-year 2010 and $25 million budget gap in FY2011.

SacRT’s fare revenue is projected to fall $7.9 million below the budgeted amount — primarily because ridership has been adversely affected by the weak economy, state furloughs and high unemployment — and sales-tax revenue dedicated to transit has declined 18.8 percent so far in FY2010 and is projected to decrease 14 percent in FY2011.

Although SacRT already has cut service, increased fares, implemented a hiring an wage freeze, and furloughed workers — including 60 layoffs planned for next month — the agency needs to reduce, realign or eliminate light-rail, bus and paratransit services to further cut spending, SacRT officials said in a prepared statement.

“Major service reductions will result in additional layoffs of operators, mechanics and staff, who support the operation and maintenance of bus and light-rail service,” they said.

After presenting nine service-reduction scenarios to the public, SacRT plans to seek input from the community and its board, which will consider the changes at a March 22 meeting. If approved, the service changes would be implemented on June 20.

Meanwhile, SacRT and other California transit agencies might soon gain much-needed state funding assistance if state lawmakers approve a new measure. The bill proposes a $400 million transit funding appropriation for fiscal years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, and a “gas tax swap” that would provide $350 million annually beginning in FY2011-12.

Although the measure wouldn’t “restore all of the revenue we have lost from the state in recent years, the funding would clearly help us provide more reliable transit service to our customers,” said San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel Ford in a statement, adding that the Metropolitan Transportation Commission estimates his agency — which lost $179 million in state funding the past three years — would receive $67.4 million if the bill passes.