Duh!

Star Tribune Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:04:20 GMT
Editorial: Now's not the time to cut transit service

Bus reductions would put the Central Corridor project at risk. ... The MVST [motor vehicle sales tax] dive put Metro Transit's fiscal 2009 budget $14.5 million into the red. Then Pawlenty proposed an additional $26.8 million cut to help balance the state budget. The governor is also going after transit budgets in greater Minnesota, proposing a $2.4 million cut, or about 5 percent of operating funds, in fiscal '09. If those cuts happen, bus fares will rise and service will be trimmed. Transit-dependent seniors and disabled people will bear the brunt of the cost. But worse consequences are also likely, Met Council chair Peter Bell told a House panel last week. The federal funding match -- $450 million -- needed to build the Central Corridor light-rail line won't be granted "if we are degrading our bus services." Federal grantmakers take a dim view of a request to expand transit in a state that's simultaneously reducing service.

[[keywords: PublicWorks;Living;Metro;]]