* Ohio - Rescind $10 million in grants it awarded last month
Lancaster,OH,USA -Lancaster Eagle Gazette, by RICK ROUAN -8 Feb 2011: -- The loss of a $1.2 million grant will limit the number of buses available and the hours Lancaster Public Transit operates, but it will not halt plans to expand the service countywide... The Ohio Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that it would rescind $10 million in grants it awarded last month. A $1.2 million grant to expand Lancaster Public Transit services countywide was included in that $10 million... But Lancaster's plans to expand public transportation throughout the county will not be stopped because the city received a second grant from a different ODOT fund for about $986,000 on Dec. 8, said Carrie Woody, superintendent for Lancaster Public Transit... (Photo from upload.wikimedia.org: Stagecoach bus in Lancaster Bus Station, Cumbria)
* Ohio - Transit system sees 19 pct. drop in riders
Toledo,OH,USA -AP/wfmj/Toledo Blade -February 10, 2011: -- Public buses in one of Ohio's largest cities have seen a 19% drop in passengers, largely because of school district cutbacks... The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority says buses on its regular routes gave 3.3 million rides last year, down from 4 million in 2009... The Blade newspaper of Toledo reports the decline came as the city school district stopped providing bus passes for high school students and cut bus rides in the lower grades for students living within two miles of school. The so-called walking zone had been one mile... Transit authority general manager James Gee says while students comprised the largest category of lost riders in 2010, full-fare ridership also dipped - by nearly 270,000 passengers. He blames the local economy and bus service reductions... (Photo from flickr: TARTA Bus for Toledo, Ohio )
* Colorado - ECO Transit growing again. After a big drop in 2010, ‘shadow' buses needed on some routes
Eagle County,Vai,COL,USA -The Vail Daily, by Scott N. Miller -9 Feb 2010: -- After losing money and passengers for almost two years, the county ECO Transit bus system is on something of an upswing... Ridership for the last three months is up significantly over the numbers posted the year before, and the system's dedicated sales tax revenue finished last year 3 percent above estimates. Like most statistics these days, better numbers are good. But those numbers also reflect increases from some pretty deep lows... In 2009 and 2010, big drops in county sales tax collections, combined with falling fuel prices and fewer paying passengers put the transit system into a hole that required a bailout from the county's general fund. A plan to stop the financial losses included a fare increase and cuts in services. Those service cuts put even fewer riders into buses in 2010... But ridership seems to be coming back, to the point that “shadow” buses are picking up passengers on the system's busiest routes... (Photo from vaildaily, by Dominique Taylor: ECO Transit bus driver Jay Floyd, right, gives passengers travel information and takes their fares as they board the bus headed to Edwards Wednesday at the Vail Transportation Center in Vail Village. Ridership for ECO Transit is up significantly over the past three months)
* Arizona - Transit review targets late buses, route changes
Phoenix,AZ,USA -The Star Phoenix, by David Hutton -February 9, 2011: -- Saskatoon Transit will issue a report in March on what can be done about buses running chronically late or leaving passengers in the cold because the bus has no room to cram in more riders... The city department is reviewing routes with low ridership and considering moving buses to where they are needed, transit manager, Mitch Riabko, said Tuesday... On Monday night, councillors told transit management the number of complaint letters they are receiving is "unacceptable" ... City administration told council the complaints from riders who watch full buses drive by them in freezing cold temperatures are "upsetting" ... (Photograph by: Greg Pender/The StarPhoenix: Bundled up bus riders wait to board at the downtown bus depot on 23rd Street East Tuesday)Labels: transport funds
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