Board OKs cuts to transit

Many Calaveras Transit runs will be eliminated as a result of a 40 percent budget shortfall faced by the public transportation agency.

A $430,937 deficit caused by an elimination of state transit assistance funding for the next three years, combined with a reduction in local transportation funds, made the cuts necessary to achieve a balanced budget, county staff told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Following the board’s vote, Calaveras Transit service to Rail Road Flat, Jackson, Lodi and Bear Valley were eliminated effective July 1. An “on-demand” service from Mokelumne Hill to Jackson will continue to serve the Amador County town as a result of a cooperative agreement with Amador Regional Transit System.

Other routes will see a reduction of the number of daily round-trips. Riders will pay more to use the scaled-back transit service with a one-way regular-fare ride going up to $2 from $1.50, just as ARTS has approved a similar increase, said Public Works transportation planner Jamie Azarvand.

ARTS is not the only neighboring agency to lend a helping hand to ailing Calaveras Transit, as Tuolumne County Transit has also pledged $38,000 to the agency next year, because its services include trips to Columbia College, which are used by some Tuolumne County residents.

The fare increase and elimination of charter services were unanimously approved by supervisors. However, the board disagreed as to which of three options it would choose to balance the transit system’s budget.

In a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Tom Tryon dissenting, the board chose Option B, which involves a revised schedule but fewer trip cancellations than either options A or C.

Additional cuts to local transportation funding by the state are a matter of when, not if, Callaway argued. Though the option selected by the majority carried the caveat that it relies on potential federal stimulus funds that would dry up in two years, she said it may be foolish to rely on those dollars because they may never arrive and anticipated another shortfall in one year rather than two.

Public comment centered on the importance of the Columbia College route to students who take night classes and the Lodi route to those who travel out of the county for medical care.

One audience member took offense to Tryon’s comments on the transit system’s funding woes and had to be asked to remain silent by Thomas, the board’s chairman.

“We hear basically from the ridership that ‘We deserve our subsidies,’ ” Tryon said. “If you ask the people who are subsidizing that, you may hear a different story.”