July 29, 2013 · Exit133

No Pierce Transit Cuts After All?

UPDATE: The Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday to hold off on cuts. For now. Service will be maintained at current levels, but smaller cuts are still planned for 2015. Read more from The News Tribune.

Pierce Transit riders who have been bracing for the impact of significant service cuts got some good news late last week: the cuts might not happen after all.

After the failure of last year’s Pierce Transit Prop 1 ballot measure to raise county sales taxes by 0.3% to fund continued transit service, bus service was scheduled to be cut by about one third on September 29. Those cuts would mean impacts to nearly all routes, including the end of or major reductions in service on weekends and evenings.

Then last week Pierce Transit announced that despite the lack of increase in tax rates, sales tax revenue is up 11%, which is more than expected, potentially allowing service to continue at current levels. 84 employees who were scheduled to be let go may also get to keep their jobs. The Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday to evaluate whether to put a stop to the cuts.

The News Tribune writes about this as if it’s a done deal, but for formality sake, if nothing else, the board does need to vote on the matter.

The vote wouldn’t be a permanent fix, but it could postpone cuts as late as June 2014. At that point, further cuts would again be dependent on sales tax growth; forecasted estimates would mean some reductions, but nothing like the level of cuts that were to be made this fall. And who knows, continued strong growth in sales could give transit users another pleasant surprise…

Filed under: Transportation, Pierce County, Transit

10 comments

fred davie July 29, 2013

What a difference a year makes. Just last summer Pierce Transit administrators painted a doomsday scenario for voters who might decide to vote down an immense increase (50%) in the Pierce Transit sales tax rate. But voters decided it wasn't the time to raise taxes. Now we learn that the transit economists were WRONG after all. Voters who questioned the forecasting and decision making abilities of Lynne Griffith, Marilyn Strickland, Derek Young and others are being strongly validated today.
Chris July 29, 2013

Aggressive cost cutting on PT's side also had a lot to do with being able to maintain service levels. Wages were capped for drivers for three years, medical plans were renegotiated and management has been slashed substantially. I'm very glad that service cuts are on track to being taken off the table, but remember to keep this in perspective. We are still at service levels not seen since the early 1990's. A lot of growth has taken place since then and demand for transit service continues to outstrip supply.
fred davie July 29, 2013

"demand for transit service continues to outstrip supply." chris I think you mean the demand for SUBSIDIZED transit service continues to outstrip supply. If riders were paying anywhere near what it costs to provide them with a ride... the demand would plummet. Look at it this way, Chris. If it cost $10K to have a new roof put on every house in the neighborhood you would have a few homeowners pony up the $10K . But if you announced that roofs henceforth would only cost $2K and the taxpayers would pick up the remainder then demand would skyrocket. It all has to do with an economic principle called the price elasticity of demand.
- Kate July 29, 2013
  
  [quote] Look at it this way, Chris. If it cost $10K to have a new roof put on every house in the neighborhood you would have a few homeowners pony up the $10K . But if you announced that roofs henceforth would only cost $2K and the taxpayers would pick up the remainder then demand would skyrocket. It all has to do with an economic principle called the price elasticity of demand.[/quote] Do you honestly think you pay full price for the roads you drive on? The gas you put in your car? The beef you buy at the grocery store? Everything is subsidized. Wake up.
  - fred davie July 29, 2013
    
    "Everything is subsidized" kate Perhaps, but not to the same extent as Pierce Transit. The subsidy provided by taxpayers to keep transit systems operating is referred to as the farebox recovery ratio. Few systems operate with a 100% recovery ratio but many operate in the range of 40 to 60%. Pierce transit has a recovery of about 20%. That should be unacceptable. Salaries and wages should be reduced, unneeded routes and schedules should be cancelled and fares should be increased to get this ratio back to where it ought to be.
    - tacoma1 July 29, 2013
      
      What do u consider an acceptable fare box recovery ratio? 33%? 50%? 66%? ____%?
Kate July 29, 2013

Also remember that the campaign was asking voters to "restore transit now" - meaning restore the over 300,000 service hours that were cut in 2011 (not immediately, over the next several years). Staying the cuts until next year does nothing for the people who relied on transit to get to work from outlying areas that are now outside of Pierce Transit's boundary, nor does it provide reliable public transit options for the 53% of Tacoma residents who approved Prop 1.
- Fred Davie July 29, 2013
  
  Kate you're getting confused. The tax increase proposal was presented to the voters TWICE. The first time was to restore the 300,000 service hours. That proposal FAILED and the service area boundaries were redrawn. The second proposal wasn't to restore the 300,000 previously reduced service hours but to maintain the remaining hours. The transit board said service would HAVE to be reduced if voters said no a second time. This is why 53% of Tacoma voters voted yes. The transit board mislead the voters.
  - Kate July 29, 2013
    
    [quote]Kate you’re getting confused. The tax increase proposal was presented to the voters TWICE. The first time was to restore the 300,000 service hours. That proposal FAILED and the service area boundaries were redrawn. The second proposal wasn’t to restore the 300,000 previously reduced service hours but to maintain the remaining hours. The transit board said service would HAVE to be reduced if voters said no a second time. This is why 53% of Tacoma voters voted yes. The transit board mislead the voters.[/quote] Afraid you're the one who is getting it backwards. Service hours were at over 600,000 pre 2011. That campaign was called save our buses, to prevent cuts. In 2012, after cuts have been made, if approved, the vote would have been to stop cuts AND slowly restore service (within the new boundaries).
NameKaren July 29, 2013

Pierce Transit needs to find another source of funding other than retail merchants, It is ridiculous that the fares are so low. It seems the only method that works for the Board is taxation. When nobody wants additional sales tax, the threats start. Pay up if you want to ride the bus. Retail customers in the core area of downtown are listed in that tiny sliver labeled "other" on the much published pie chart or ridership. I have yet to hear from a merchant that their customer base will be ruined if any tax increase does NOT go into effect. So, here we have a potential scenario where the buying public will avoid local shops because they can avoid sales tax. Then what happens? Shops close. And when the shops close, the City loses revenue both in sales and property taxes and everyone wonders why nobody wants to open a store downtown. So, we are going to go through this again June 2014? Currently, the City Council cannot find another way to fund street repairs except to tax us again. We are stuck in an endless cycle of caused by a lack of imagination by Town Wall. Is that the best they can come up with it? Probably not, but it's easy.