In July, Santa Rosa CityBus received a Recovery Act grant of $4.2 million for paratransit services, solar bus shelters and eligible operating assistance.
This grant prevented service cuts and fare increases, and helped save 10 jobs--mechanics and bus drivers--in a city where unemployment is running nearly a full percentage point higher than the national average.
CityBus is the municipal transit system for Santa Rosa, California. Now, Santa Rosa has a population of 160,000, but if you consider the surrounding area, it has an urbanized area population of 487,000.
So its CityBus, in addition to providing paratransit services, has 36 fixed route buses, operates 17 fixed routes, and provides 2.9 million trips annually. CityBus riders tend to include low income earners, disabled people, seniors, and students.
Unfortunately, during 2009, sales tax revenue decreased by over 10% in Sonoma County. Plus, California effectively eliminated its State Transit Assistance funds. These two sources, plus fares, are the primary sources of operating funds for CityBus, and, as you can imagine, this shortfall was devastating.
Service cuts and fare increases seemed unavoidable.
But, because of prior fiscal prudence and the ability to use ARRA funds for operating and capitalized maintenance, CityBus has been able to maintain existing service levels without raising fares!
CityBus is now one of the only transit operators in the Bay Area able to avoid service cuts and fare increases since the recession began.
I'll say it again: No service cuts and no fare increases occurred through all of 2009. And that is expected to hold true through 2010.
That's the everyday value of the Recovery Act in the lives of everyday Americans. Santa Rosa CityBus riders, who depend on transit services, are grateful for the ARRA program.
So am I.
The ARRA has been a great program that has done lots of good things for the country and far right conservatives can't take that away even if they don't like the ARRA. The bus issue finally came to an end here in Orange County today, too. OCTA staff came up with a new bus service plan two weeks ago that the OCTA Board of Directors gave final approval on this morning. The new plan keeps full geographic coverage of fixed route bus service for the entire county; the over 25 bus routes that would have been eliminated were cut to six that didn't perform that well; span reductions were eliminated. On weekdays, the bus system we will see in March will look much like the one we have today. It was a big victory for disabled persons, seniors, and bus users in general as well as for drivers and mechanics; and it was a major plus for a cleaner environment in one of the worst air quality regions in the country. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.
Posted by: Michael E. Bailey | November 24, 2009 at 12:25 AM
The new plan keeps full geographic coverage of fixed route bus service for the entire county; the over 25 bus routes that would have been eliminated were cut to six that didn't perform that well; span reductions were eliminated. On weekdays, the bus system we will see in March will look much like the one we have today.
Posted by: jewelry reviews | July 30, 2010 at 05:00 AM
Very useful information you shared here about Santa Rosa City Bus.And its good to know about providing employment,About the Logo and the situation during the recession.The end note of your content is really true and i admit it.Thanks for sharing such a valuable information here.
Posted by: Auto transport | August 19, 2010 at 07:04 AM
Is there any chance this will be adopted coast to coast?
Posted by: HP Bryce | August 27, 2010 at 07:33 AM