Bus service likely to be curtailed in Marin due to budget short...

By March, bus service is likely to be trimmed back on 10 Marin Transit District bus routes as part of an 8 percent budget reduction, and the soft economy and state budget crisis are to blame.

[Jory]

We shouldn't have busses anyway. Let's just all buy cars, sit in traffic, and pollute the planet, and drive drunk.

Thanks, Governator, for striking 2/3rds of funding from public transit this year. Go drive your Hummer now.

[Carol Allen]

I live in Fairfax,Ca. I depend on route 23. I take route 23 to San Anselmo to visit my daughter & her family who live across the street from Drake High School. I also take route 23 to CVS/Pharmacy at Red Hill shopping center & to Walgreens in San Anselmo.

[Resident]

wow, Mill Valley having a service cut. Amazing.

Novato got hit with a major bus cut recently. In their wisdom the Golden Gate did a survey during the summer months (I guess they didn't think about people BEING ON VACATION) and decided ridership was down. Ya think?

They cut the ONE bus to civic center and back from Novato displacing plenty of riders. Of course in their wisdom they ran the afternoon bus at 4:40 when most people get off at 5. Maybe the bus would have filled up if they ran it when people actually commute?

But the worst part is there is a woman with a disability, she uses a walker and now she has to climb on two buses each way, struggle to get to the transfer bus and sit out iin the cold (and rain) at the bridge waiting for a bus. The drivers don't help her and she often misses one of the shuttle buses because the drivers won't wait.

But we do see plenty of Mill Valley buses that are half empty going by.

[CitizenX]

How about moving the stops out of Marin City so that more people and especially women and night time riders are willing to ride the bus?

You can't expect people to disembark in a crime ridden ghetto in the evening or put their children on the bus to that place.

More riders equals more revenue per run.

[Go jump off a bridge]

"All meetings will have Spanish translation."
If the illegals can't ride the bus, that means more unlicenced and uninsured vehicles on the road. In Marin.
Keep'em coming!

[Duh Factor]

Obviously or friend from Delano doesn't know much about the Civic Center commute. Most people are long gone from work by 5:00. Moving the bus later would have made things worse.

Besides, in case you didn't notice, that afternoon trip on the 54 came at the same time as the 101. And guess what? They both do basically the same thing through the Civic Center and to the San Rafael Transit Center. Why have two buses do the same thing when you can have one? Especially since public transit funding took such a hit this year thanks to our governator?

[Malden]

I see buses driving by College of Marin in the late afternoon that are completely empty. Wouldn't it be a no brainer to cut those? As for buses that carry one or two passengers, it would be cheaper and more green to pay their taxi fare than run a huge bus.

[Resident]

Duh Factor wrote:

Besides, in case you didn't notice, that afternoon trip on the 54 came at the same time as the 101. And guess what? They both do basically the same thing through the Civic Center and to the San Rafael Transit Center. Why have two buses do the same thing when you can have one? Especially since public transit funding took such a hit this year thanks to our governator?

But the 101 doesn't go into Novato, down through S. Novato and Novato Blvd. If it did that it would be fine.

[elvis]

there was a time when I "road" the bus more frequently, but cuts were made, now more cuts, making it likely I will use the bus even less. For me the main issue is the 23. I think the 23 should be a small bus like a whistle stop wheels bus and should run every 15 minutes, fairfax to the transit center. smaller bus easier to maneuver, higher gas mileage (I'm guessing)- IF you build it they will come. No need for a schedule, just put the vehicles out there, increased service is what we need between san Rafeal and 'Fax

[Rational approach]

Are the specifics of which buses will be cut at which times available ANYWHERE? If so, why not mention the link in the article. If not, why not ask GGT why they are hiding the info?

(Yes, I looked on the GGT website, and other than "routine" quarterly adjustments that have already taken effect in September, I didn't find any info on service cuts.)

[Foster Brooks]

Rational approach wrote:

Are the specifics of which buses will be cut at which times available ANYWHERE?

Check www.marintransit.org . They contract with GGT.

[Rational approach]

Thanks, Foster Brooks!

[Marin Native]

Why does GGT use those HUGE articulating buses on local routes? They usually only have a few riders on them. What a waste of money not to mention being grossly polluting. That not being very green! They should at least consider using less-costly mini buses or vans on routes within the county. There is SO much waste in the GG Bridge & Highway District. It's all covered up. It's easier for the overpaid execs to simply raise tolls & fares.

[FatFreddysCat]

Tiburon residents are already organizing Rolls Royce and Limo carpools to compensate for the loss of bus service.
===
>...altering Route 19 in Tiburon would cut $197,232.

[Rational approach]

FatFreddy,

FYI, most of the riders of the regular (not commuter or school route) bus routes in Tiburon are hired help, either for in-home services or for restaurant and other businesses. Many of them are working at or close to minimum wage.

Try thinking and learning before insulting and attacking, OK?

[Red Diaper]

Buses are just traffic cloggers.To big and slow. The only folks on buses are those who got too many dui's or lost thier driving privliges somehow.The elderly and disabled can use whistlestop. So there .

[OMG]

CitizenX wrote:

How about moving the stops out of Marin City so that more people and especially women and night time riders are willing to ride the bus?
You can't expect people to disembark in a crime ridden ghetto in the evening or put their children on the bus to that place.
More riders equals more revenue per run.

I hope our Sheriff doesn't see this, he is planning on moving the bus stop! The district would lose even more money! I keep hearing talk about "CUT the Salaries and Pensions", it will never happen in our lifetime.
Pobre Mio

[Grand Torino]

"Funding losses and increased service costs would lead to a $16 million deficit - more than half the district's $30 million budget - in the next 10 years if adjustments aren't made, and fare increases wouldn't come close to covering the differential."

STOP SPENDING STUPID!

[FollowTheMoney]

And yet they have 3 million to build an interactive exhibit at the Golden Gate Bridge....

[cycling]

Awesome the opponents of the SMART train cited the ease that the GGT bus system provided. Welp, so much for that one. Not even worried about the SMART ling b/c it's two decades off, but how casually the bus system is counted on and here, a cut. Absurd.