LOCAL NEWS ‘mdash; The ability to travel from one place to another is a pretty basic necessity ‘mdash; but those in San Diego County without a car may want to consider investing in a new, comfortable pair of kicks, because unless we resist current threats to public transportation, the most dependable form of transit for non-driving San Diego residents will be provided by their own two feet.
Since 1971, San Diego has relied on the State Transit Assistance fund to supplement money for public transit. But in light of the current state budget crisis, those funds are about to run dry for at least five years, presenting an $11 million deficit to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, the primary public transport provider in the county. As a kneejerk response to the impending shortfall, the MTS board voted in an 11-2 decision last week to scale back a whopping 37 bus routes (which would go into effect this June) and to implement service fare hikes, buying MTS an estimated $4.7 million.
To be fair, MTS hasn’t had very much time to respond to the budget cuts; they came into law with the approval of the new California state budget on February 19. Before any of the cuts were approved, MTS conducted extensive research to determine which routes are the most profitable and widely used. The routes that will be cut back in June are those that have the lowest ridership; MTS determined which routes are ridden most infrequently and at which hours, and adjusted their schedule accordingly.
It also held presentations at different transit centers to discuss the possibility of such changes, taking into account public feedback before reaching a final decision. But none of that changes the fact that the board approved to cut services before sufficiently investigating funding alternatives.
Board members suggested reallocating stimulus funds to MTS at a March 27 meeting of the San Diego Association of Governments’ Transportation Committee ‘mdash; soon shot down, as opposing members expressed a reluctance to impose a one-time fix on the transit system. But the recently approved $4.7 million in service cuts certainly don’t provide the sort of panacea MTS needs either. San Diego City Councilwoman and MTS board member Sherri Lightner, who was one of two board members to reject the approved service cuts and fare hikes, said that at this point, the board doesn’t know how or where MTS will find other sources of funding, though she advocate going to SANDAG for funding.
Despite the fact that SANDAG stands to inherit $127 million in funding for transportation from federal stimulus dollars, those funds are going almost entirely to highway revisions.
While a one-time bailout from SANDAG would only postpone the damage to MTS, that time could prove tremendously valuable in locating funds. Santa Rosa County’s City Bus, for instance, plans to lean on a reserve of surplus funds for the next 15 months as it looks to find new sour
ces for operating funds. Though it estimates that at the end of that period it, like other public transit providers, would face a $20 million deficit, the logic is that it makes more sense to sustain services for as long as possible while simultaneously evaluating future changes. MTS may not have the privilege of an operational surplus, but a funding allocation from SANDAG would serve the same purpose: to offer MTS desperately needed time to look into new sources, as it has never faced this kind of challenge in the past. State funding has always been a primary source of operational funding.
The focus, at this point, must be on maintaining and sustaining the services that MTS already provides. Nevermind the fact that it takes more than three times as long to get to the Gaslamp Quarter from campus by bus than it does by car, and that critics of current public transit services complain of inefficiency and inconvenience; thanks to a little something called the budget crisis, our system only stands to get worse ‘mdash; unless we actively seek new sources of funding, such as SANDAG.
The elimination of these routes will naturally hold direct consequences for students. Decreased bus access means decreased mobility; students won’t be’ nearly as able to access the greater San Diego area through connecting lines. Limiting public transit access limits student access to internships, to job interviews and to the world outside our cozy La Jolla bubble. Public transportation ridership as a whole has risen recently in response to the current economic crisis; we can’t justify immediately cutting routes when more and more people are relying on them.
Lightner noted that San Diego can’t and won’t have a reliable public transportation base without reliable transit. Indeed, with the dramatic reduction of state funding, it’s critical that we look to new funding sources ‘mdash; or brace ourselves for a whole lot more walking.
Readers can contact Trevor Cox at [email protected].