March 27 Service Changes & Potential Alternatives via TransitGuru

Port Authority recently released changes to the routes scheduled for March 27, 2011. While Port Authority did their best to minimize damage, these changes are a net 15% reduction in service hours from current service and some areas do have major reductions or route eliminations. This post will summarize the changes and show alternatives where applicable. While it may be more difficult, I believe many alternatives are valid alternatives that would be doable for a majority of people affected by the reductions. Nonetheless, this situation is not ideal and you should contact your legislators and governor. The idea of the Transit Development Plan (TDP) was to match ridership demand with existing service hours. While nearly all routes will assume TDP route numbers and names, this round of service changes is not the best way to serve the region due to the reduced service levels due to reduced funding. Port Authority is discussing with elected officials and hopes this would be a temporary measure until dedicated, growing, and sustainable funding is secure. I encourage you to do the same and express your concerns. Be specific and explain why you need your bus route, evening or weekend service and that you support a sustainable, growing, and predicable funding stream for Port Authority.

This list will be a route by route summary of what will be happening regarding the March service changes. Italic text shows an alternative means to access an area where a route has been discontinued or reduced. It will also be noted if any of the alternative transportation options are not open to the public and only serves a segment of riders (such as employees, etc.). The reason I wanted to write this is to not only help riders to find alternatives to getting to locations where service is impacted, but also to encourage support for our transit system among our choice riders, despite service reductions due to the transit funding crisis. Hopefully as people are aware of the importance of our transit system, more will want increased funding so that Port Authority (and other transit agencies in the state) can reverse these cuts and even plan for expansion beyond the full Transit Development Plan.

Read the details here.