The county
’s bus and transportation agency will slash service by 9 percent
this spring as leaders continue to battle financial difficulties
they say result from the effects of the economic downturn. Last
week, directors of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
approved service changes on 65 of th
e agency’s 72 bus lines, including seven that specifically serve
Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Late-night light rail operations will also
be cut.
The county’s bus and transportation agency will slash service by 9 percent this spring as leaders continue to battle financial difficulties they say result from the effects of the economic downturn.
Last week, directors of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority approved service changes on 65 of the agency’s 72 bus lines, including seven that specifically serve Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Late-night light rail operations will also be cut.
The reductions are the latest in a series of cuts at VTA over the last two years as the economy – and the agency’s sales-tax revenues and ridership numbers – continue to slump.
The volatile sales tax revenues – which make up 80 percent of VTA’s bus and rail operations funding – are down 21 percent, agency officials said.
“That’s the core of the problem,” said VTA spokesman John Pilger.
Meanwhile, ridership has also dropped due to the economy and the dot-com implosion.
“There’s a real direct correlation between unemployment and ridership,” Pilger said.
Prominent South County changes that will result include the elimination of one route – Gilroy’s Line 18 – and the extraction of Miller Avenue will be cut from Line 19. In Morgan Hill, midday service will be slashed from Line 15 between Jackson Oaks and the Civic Center. Two morning trips on Express Line 521 from the Gilroy Transit Center to Lockheed Martin/Moffett Park will be consolidated.
The agency held community meetings in November to review the alterations, which will take effect April 14.
Officials have raised the possibility of another round of fare increases this summer, more layoffs and possibly more service cuts toward the end of the year. Some of that will depend on what impacts come down from the state’s multi-billion deficit, Pilger said. The agency has formed a special committee to look in more detail at reducing costs and possibly boosting revenues.
VTA has already done some belt-tightening. Last year, officials delayed $70 million in capital projects, downgraded services by 5 percent, boosted fares by 15 percent and eliminated more than 300 jobs, or about 11 percent of its workforce.
“It’s obviously a tough situation and something we’ve been monitoring, but unfortunately no one has a crystal ball,” Pilger said, who stressed the agency uses the advice of good economists. “No one could predict how deep this would go, how fast it would hit us and how long it would last – that’s the problem.”
Information on other route changes is available at 321-2300 or on the Internet at www.vta.org. Brochures and flyers with more details will be available in March on buses, light rail trains and at customer service centers.
