The Lane Transit District Board unanimously voted on Wednesday night to confirm proposed cutbacks in service, including the entire Breeze bus line, in order to compensate for both present and impending budget shortfalls.
LTD will drop 10 bus routes from its service this year as LTD faces a $6.5 million budget deficit over the next two years. The changes approved Wednesday include dropping six public bus routes and four school routes, as well as altering 28 other routes, in many cases reducing bus frequency.
“We do have a lot of routes that will be changing frequency,” LTD public relations officer Cosette Rees said. “We are trying to maintain service, but in many instances it will be less frequent and therefore less convenient for riders planning their trips.”
Once implemented, the service cutbacks are expected to cover about $2.5 million of the $3 million the district intends to cut back this year.
The Breeze, River Road Station, Thurston Station and Cal Young routes will close in June, while the Amazon and Bertelsen routes will end in September.
Rees said she expects both the bad economy and the reduced service to negatively effect LTD ridership.
“The unfortunate thing is that the proposed changes probably will affect ridership,” she said. “Really, I’m not happy about cuts having to be made, but based on the public’s input through this whole thing, I think this is actually a pretty good package as far as coverage.”
The LTD board also did an initial reading of proposals to raise bus fares, which Rees said will be formally passed by the board on May 19.
The cost of monthly bus passes for adults will increase from $45 to $48 beginning in June, youth passes will increase from $22.50 to $24, and three-month passes will increase from $122 to $130.
Hans Johnson, a University student who rides the bus from the Harlow neighborhood to campus every day, said he was less than thrilled about anticipated fare increases, though he didn’t think the cutbacks would affect his daily circuit.
“Coburg Road is a pretty big route, so that shouldn’t be a problem for me,” Johnson said, “but if they’re making it more spendy, yeah, that sucks.”
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