Bus
cuts need tuning, riders say
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
CAMPO — Nearly 20 Back Country residents gathered at the Mtn. Empire Community Center on Monday, Aug. 8 to discuss the future of public transit in the area. They met with officials from Metropolitan Transit Service, the agency which oversees the majority of public transit in San Diego County.
The meeting was the first in a series of four to be held in within the week in various towns throughout the Back Country to discuss possible cuts to transit service in the most remote parts of the county.
Several meeting participants argued that the meeting time made it impossible for transit users to attend. The meeting began at 3:30 p.m. and finished promptly at 5 p.m.
"You didn’t look at your own bus schedule to see if the people you ride to this area would actually be here," said Arlene Lenhart.
Other residents said that the announcement of the meetings was poor and that few even know they are taking place.
"I ride the bus every week and I wouldn’t even have known about this meeting, as a rider, if it weren’t for a friend of mine telling me," said a Tecate resident and rider of the 894 bus.
Information about the meetings was printed and distributed on buses as a
Take One pamphlet, according to MTS officials. Many meeting participants said they learned about the meetings from
The Alpine Sun’s front page story.
Many of the residents are already disheartened about rural bus service, with incompatible schedules and truncated routes on certain trips.
"There have been a number of changes in the state over the past few years and we’ve really felt it at the public transit level," said MTS representative Brandon Farley. "We really need to balance things out to make transit sustainable, financially and practically."
Recently, the MTS board vowed to make cuts to rural transit services to help balance a tight budget.
"Somebody has to pay for this," MTS board chairman Leon Williams said. "It doesn't look good to operate at this subsidy level. We’re over budget and underused."
Rural bus service currently consists of nine routes. Route 867 goes from Ramona to El Cajon six days a week. Route 888 goes from Alpine to Campo, via Old Highway 80, six days a week. Route 889 goes from El Cajon to Alpine, via Harbison Canyon, seven days a week. Route 891A travels to Borrego, Julian, Cuyamaca and Ramona one day a week. Route 891 travels to Borrego, Julian and Ramona one day a week. Route 892A goes to Borrego, Oak Grove, Santa Ysabel and Ramona one day per week. Route 892 goes to Borrego, Santa Ysabel and Ramona one day a week. Route 893 travels to Borrego, Ocotillo, Shelter Valley and Ramona one day per week. Route 894 travels from Campo to El Cajon, via Tecate, seven days a week.
The routes that are up for discussion are 867, 888, 889, 891, 892, and 894.
At the Monday meeting, MTS officials presented four options for dealing with the budget. These options were constructed by MTS planners based on data about ridership on rural buses.
Option one — productivity based — would completely discontinue routes 867, 888, 889, 891 and 892. This would cut service to areas such as Borrego Springs, Jacumba and Ramona. Route 894 would not see any changes.
Option two — MTS board request — would also cut all of these services and would also cut the 894 service in half.
Option three — coverage based — would cut routes 867, 891, 892 and 894 services in half. Route 888 wouldn’t change, but route 889 would be cut completely.
The most popular option among meeting participants is called “Lifeline Based.” This option would discontinue service on routes 889, 891 and 892, but would retain routes 867, 888 and 894. Even though this was the most popular, residents argued that some specific changes needed to be made.
Issues raised by the riders included services for students who take part in after-school activities and buses that leave the Back Country early enough that riders can get to morning medical or other appointments in town and return later in the day. The point was also raised that there are currently some buses that run at times when they have no riders. Residents want to see those routes re-scheduled to best serve the rural riders.
At the end of the community meetings, MTS planners will take all the ideas and outcomes to the MTS board of directors. In late September or early October, planners will come back to the communities to get further input on possible cuts to rural transit.
At this time no future meeting dates have been scheduled for Back Country communities.
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Christy Scott
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