B y L i n d a N e e f e
THERE'S A SHORTFALL in Pima County funding for public transportation.The problem is the County Transportation Department budgeted $1 million in expected revenues to fund public transportation, but that money didn't materialize this year and probably won't again next year.
The cash was supposed to come from the state's lottery fund, but legislation controlling the payout of those funds is restrictive enough to screw our community out of a projected $1.2 million that can only be spent on public transportation.
Here's the story: During the '94 legislative session, an air-quality bill was passed that allowed Arizonans to play Powerball while supposedly simultaneously saving the environment. Under the law, about 38 percent of lottery revenue, estimated at $18 million, would be distributed to counties, cities and towns strictly on a population basis. That sounds pretty good, until you get to the part about a restriction on the payout. No monies can be paid out until the total lottery fund, including Arizona Lottery revenues, reaches $350 million. That didn't happen this year, and isn't likely to next year.
To make matters worse, in fiscal year 1995-'96, beginning July 1, the county also anticipates a 25 percent cut, approximately $60,700, in federal transit dollars. Combined with the loss of the Powerball payout, the funding gap is so big that a percentage of the funds will have to be made up through service reductions and/or fare increases.
County Transportation Department officials realized last February they just didn't have the funds to pay for contracted public transportation, so the issue was taken to the Board of Supervisors. The supervisors told Transportation to schedule a series of public hearings to tell county residents of anticipated fare increases and/or cuts in Sun Tran services to unincorporated county areas to help fill the funding gap.
The meetings, scheduled from May 4 to 17, were advertised in the local dailies. You may have missed it in the Star--it was buried in the sports section, alongside the car ads. At any rate, Transportation scheduled five meetings over the two-week period to give residents the rundown.
The county funds three public transit service programs:
• The urban transit program extends Sun Tran service into several areas of the county in the metro region;
• The rural transit program serves Ajo, North Avra Valley, Marana, San Xavier and Tucson Estates;
• The special needs program consists of Handi-Car service to people with disabilities living in unincorporated Pima County.
Ridership in these programs increased by more than 30 percent over the last five years. The programs serve more than 830,000 passengers annually at a cost of nearly $3 million.
At this point, the county is simply sharing information and collecting public input to include in its recommendation to the supervisors. A variety of cost-saving options presented at the meetings include reductions to all county Sun Tran services, elimination of several urban routes and elimination of all express runs and weekend services.
County officials stress there have been no decisions yet on how or what to cut and that the supervisors asked them only to identify cuts and/or fare increases up to 30 percent of the shortfall. They want everyone to comment and make suggestions for presentation to the board at a yet-to-be scheduled public hearing.
Obviously this issue affects everyone, bus rider or not. The county has been pushing ride sharing and the use of public transportation for years. Apparently local residents bought that rap, as ridership on county Sun Tran services continues to rise. Now we'll take a step backward by cutting public services that promote clean air and less traffic on our roadways.
But there's still time to comment on this issue. Call Pima County Transportation Systems at 740-6403.
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