According to a recent survey by APTA, public transportation ridership has hit its highest level in 52 years. Despite cheap gas during an economic slump, public transit ridership up in Atlanta. So why are we being threatened with service cuts and cost-cutting measures?
In Atlanta, the majority of funding for MARTA, the principal rapid-transit system, comes not from fares but a 1% sales tax levied in Fulton and Dekalb counties. By law, funds from the 1% sales tax must be split evenly between MARTA’s operational and capital expenditure. The split was written into the authority’s legislation at MARTA’s formation with the intent that MARTA would continue expanding and investing in the system. However, the authority has no active rail construction projects resulting in a capital funds surplus of $65 million while operations funds continue to fall with sales tax receipts.
With declining sales tax receipts, the authority is facing a $24 million budget shortfall in its FY 2010 operating budget. Proposed cost-cutting measures include a fare increase, long-term parking fee hike, elimination of all unproductive bus service, cancellation of some special events service, overhauling overlapping service routes, adjusting rail service headway and hours of service, and adjusting MARTA’s Mobility service consistent with changes to bus and rail.
In April, MARTA Board of Directors urged Governor Sonny Perdue, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson to call a special session to deal with transportation and MARTA funding issues after state legislators failed to pass SB 120, a bill that would lift restrictions on the use of MARTA’s capital reserve funds. MARTA wants access to its reserve in order to make up for a large gap in its operating budget that has come from falling sales tax revenue.
“Show us the money Sonny.”
While governor Perdue sees no real need to address the problem any time soon, support could come from elsewhere. In April, Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) said it may be willing to send $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, intended for transit projects in Atlanta, to MARTA. ARC will meet June 10th to make a decision on the $25 million.
On the New York front, according to the New York Times, The Metro Transit Authority (MTA) faced a $200 million budget gap the resulted in service cuts and a fare increase from $2.00 to $2.25 per subway ride in June 2009.
On the contrary to ridership trends in Atlanta, New York public transit ridership is actually down. A recent New York Post article says subway ridership has been falling since March 2009. Many suspect the decrease is due to fewer people commuting to work due to lay-offs. In March 2009, ridership was down 1.4 percent, equating to 2.5 million fewer trips and $7.1 million less than expected by the MTA for March 2009.
On the bright side, this doesn’t mean people are getting around less. Alternative transportation methods seem to be growing and diversifying, helped by attention from the NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg and transportation director Janette Sadik-Khan. This includes bicycle commuting, which has been growing steadily in New York. NYC.gov reports a 35% increase in bicycle commuters from 2007 to 2008. These numbers are the result of NYC’s DOT commitment, known as PlaNYC, initiated on earth day in 2006, in which they committed to designing and installing 200 miles of on-street bicycle routes in a 3-year period starting July 1, 2006, and ending June 30, 2009.
MARTA funding update. Today at their regular board meeting, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) approved an Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) proposal to reallocate $25 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds to MARTA. The measure must now be signed by Governor Sonny Perdue to become effective. The funds come with a contingency that MARTA, in turn, will reallocate $25 million of the authority’s capital surplus to fund transit-related projects in the MARTA service area.
Comment by Mick on June 13, 2009 at 10:33 am