The County Board has overriden the majority of Exec. Abele’s vetoes, thereby passing the 2012 County Budget. The Transit section of the budget includes a number of large changes for bus and paratransit riders. These include a $0.75 increase in paratransit fares (regular bus fares did not change), three new express bus routes paid for with 2-year Federal CMAQ grants, and a number of route re-organizations on the East and South Sides to meet the new express routes.
The Transit Riders Union opposed the way in which these express routes were planned, with the public first finding out about them after the fact, and the use of CMAQ funding which is only good for two years to plug a long-term funding shortfall.
A number of amendments were also included by the County Board that have the potential to improve the system. These include:
-Requiring MCTS to provide a report to the County Board of the viability of publishing real-time data on bus locations for use on computers or smartphones, as well as putting up electronic countdown signs at transfer points. This is standard practice at many transit agencies across the US, and MCTS already keeps track of the positions of all of its buses via GPS. (Introduced by Supervisor Haas, who is a bus rider himself)
-Requiring MCTS to study how increasing the distance between bus stops on Oakland Avenue due to the new express service will affect elderly and disabled riders.
-Continuing to have stroller areas on buses.
-Banning weapons and non-service animals on buses (this is already policy at MCTS).
-Having the sheriff administer the contract for G4S security guards on buses instead of Transit administering the contract itsself. This could have the effect of the sheriff taking over G4S’ duties when their contract expires.
-Making driver shields a requirement on all new buses, and having MCTS apply for grants to retrofit all old buses with the shields. Drivers’ shields have been a major issue for our allies at the drivers’ union, ATU 998, due to a recent rash of assaults on drivers.
While we werent able to get it passed this budget cycle, the Transit Riders Union is committed continuing to fight for a dedicated, stable funding source for transit, as well as concrete improvements to the system. We believe thatgood public transit is a civil right, and that riders should be included in a decision making at MCTS, and we will continue to fight for this throughout the coming year and years to come.
For more info about the new routes, see MCTS’ budget website. (The proposed route changes have been approved)
For more info about the amendments to the budget from the County Board, see this document