
The new service plan eliminates a bank of “lineup” buses leaving downtown Toledo at 11 a.m. on weekdays, curtails service hours on suburban Call-a-Ride buses, and reduces or eliminates weekend and holiday service on selected routes.
The new service plan eliminates a bank of “lineup” buses leaving downtown Toledo at 11 a.m. on weekdays, curtails service hours on suburban Call-a-Ride buses, and reduces or eliminates weekend and holiday service on selected routes.
Routes being considered for elimination include linking Mount Holyoke, Hampshire and Smith; and an express run between Smith and UMass. Together they account for some 85,000 riders each year.
The proposal to cut the weekend service for a year, which had been heavily criticized, was among a number of options on the table as the public transit agency looks to close a $42 million budget gap.
GM Paul J. Wiedefeld’s revised plan would increase rail, bus, and parking fares for the fiscal year that begins July 1, as originally proposed.
In November, voters approved a $3.5 billion bond measure to rehabilitate BART, however, declining revenue and rising costs mean the agency could face a $25 million to $45 million operating deficit in the coming budget year.
Hopes to vote on the proposal, which will be shopped for comment in a series of nine public hearings, by April. The plan would impact nearly all of its 70 bus lines, plus 42 miles of light rail.
The roughly $180,000 in cost savings from the night service reductions for the Springfield Mass Transit District are less than one third of what is already being done while SMTD awaits delayed payments and a clearer budget picture from the state.
Fares on the regional bus system would increase to $2 from $1.75, while the plan would also raise Metrorail fares, reduce train frequency, and cut 1,000 jobs, including 300 bus and train operators.
Long-term deals on fuel and increased non-fare revenue have helped CTA cope with reduced funding from the state and a decline in ridership, which fell to just under 500 million in 2016.
The bill was introduced last year after the transportation authority eliminated the last New Jersey-bound trains of the night on the North Jersey Coast and Morris & Essex Lines.