(The following article by Gary Richards appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on June 9.)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Transit leaders from across the United States will meet in San Jose this week at the American Public Transportation Association’s annual rail conference. It may resemble a grief session.
“Every transit system all over the country is telling me a local tale of woe,” said APTA President William Millar. “Every day, it’s the same story.”
From New York to Dallas to San Jose, ridership is down, revenues are plummeting and service is being whacked. Although the financial troubles of the Valley Transportation Authority in Santa Clara County are more severe than most, the VTA isn’t alone.
An APTA survey this year of the largest transit districts found that 90 percent have raised fares or are considering it. A third are providing less service; nearly one in five agencies has dropped routes.
Riders in New York may be hit with a 33 percent fare increase. Revenues have fallen for 26 consecutive months in Cleveland.
Denver cut 31 bus routes as sales tax revenues have dipped with the economy. The transit district in Los Angeles County approved its first fare increase in eight years.
The list goes on, especially the closer one gets to Silicon Valley. Bay Area Rapid Transit will boost fares Jan. 1 and will consider increases every two years to dig out of a $40 million deficit.
AC Transit might reduce or eliminate service on two of every three routes run by the East Bay’s largest bus operator. The Santa Cruz transit district will raise fares next month for almost everyone who rides its buses.
The VTA might cut service 21 percent next year if a controversial bailout plan to borrow funds from a future tax fails. That would eliminate 17 bus lines, lead to fewer buses on 46 other routes and result in the layoffs of as many as 400 workers.
“This shouldn’t be surprising,” said Rick Silver, executive Director of the Rail Passenger Association of California. “People are getting laid off, so there’s a lack of ridership, which has reduced revenues. And, at least in California, sales taxes are way down. There’s a big hurt being felt by everyone.”
Compounding transit agencies’ problems is the condition on the nation’s highways. The recession means fewer jobs and fewer drivers hitting the freeway each day. Traffic delays fell more than 30 percent between 2000 and 2001 in Santa Clara County, an unprecedented decline.
People who a few years ago took a train to avoid creeping along the highway at speeds under 25 mph now find the car a much faster option.
Hurting the most are agencies that rely heavily on local sales taxes for revenue, such as in those Denver and Santa Clara County. VTA’s revenue is off more than 21 percent from a year ago.
“What you are seeing here over the last 18 to 24 months is absolutely, unequivocally unprecedented,” said Richard Swanson, a consultant hired to review VTA’s financial operations. “I’ve talked to rating agencies in New York, and they have never seen a drop in sales tax so dramatic as this. Nobody could have foreseen this.”
APTA’s Millar said agencies are able to survive these tough times if they have a stable source of funds to cover the costs of operating buses and trains. The lack of such a fund is what has put the VTA in such a deep hole.
When voters passed a half-cent sales tax in 1996 to expand light rail, not a penny was earmarked for the costs of running those trains. And of $6 billion to be raised by the tax that takes effect in three more years, only $1.1 billion goes for operations and maintenance.
“Most people who vote for transit think if we are building a system, that we have the money to operate it,” said Pat Dando, a VTA board member. “That’s common sense. But we don’t have that, and that is how we got into this dilemma.”