Proposed Route Cuts Alarm Warwick, Lititz Bus Riders

By Laura Knowles

LAURA KNOWLES

Warwick Township and Lititz Borough residents are alarmed a projected budget shortfall of $1 million could mean the end of Red Rose Transit Authority bus service to Lititz and six other routes.

Concerned citizens gathered at Warwick Township Municipal Building May 2 to voice their worries about possible public transportation cuts announced last month by RRTA.

“Some of us depend on the bus to get to and from work. I don’t have a car,” Lititz resident Marina O’Neill said. “I’ll go all the way to the top if I have to. I’ll go to President Bush.”

Others said public transportation and energy efficiency are more important than ever as a consequence of gasoline prices approaching $3 a gallon.

RRTA Director Dave Kilmer said the crisis came about because funding for public transit in Pennsylvania has not kept pace with inflation in the past 10 years. Beginning July 1, budget shortfalls of as much as $1 million are projected, and another $564,718 in federal funding is expected to be lost in July 2008.

“As difficult as it is, the only solution for us is to cut bus routes,” said Kilmer. He said RRTA is looking to eliminate nearly 18,000 hours of service.

After examining figures on the county’s 16 bus routes, RRTA determined the best-performing routes are Park City, Rockvale, Millersville and Columbia.

The lowest performers are Willow Street, Elizabethtown, Elm/ Parkside, Grandview, Ephrata and Lititz. Worst of them all is the Lancaster downtown trolley.

“Lititz ranks 13th out of 16,” Kilmer said. “Which is why it is on the endangered list.”

That list includes the routes that may be completely deleted from RRTA’s bus service, which are the downtown shuttle, Route 4 Elm Avenue/Parkside, Route 18 Elizabethtown, Route 15 Willow Street, Route 13 White Horse, Route 10 Lititz and Route 5 Grandview/ Rossmere.

Route 11 Ephrata may have partial service cuts.

Cutting these routes would eliminate 17,600 hours of service for RRTA.

At the same time, RRTA is able to use capital funding to pay for Phase II of the Queen Street project, but that funding cannot be used for operational expenses such as fuel and health care for employees. It is hoped the Queen Street Station will provide revenue for operations through leasing of space, bus advertising and advertising on bus shelters.

One way RRTA plans to deal with increasing fuel and insurance costs is to raise fares, but the fare raises will amount to only about 10 cents more on most routes. Raising fares even higher will not cover the funding crisis, and even getting more people to ride the bus will not offer a long-term solution.

Proposed rate increases will go from $1.25 to $1.35 in the base zone, $1.40 to $1.50 in zone 1, $1.70 to $1.80 in zone 2, $2.05 to $2.15 in zone 3 and $2.45 to $2.55 in zone 4 for cash fares. Ten Trip Ticket prices will increase by 50 cents to $1 in all zones. Monthly Pass costs will increase by $1 to $2 in all zones.

Gaylord Poling of Venture Lititz said the community has numerous retirement homes, downtown shopping, a hospital and other areas that need bus service.

Poling read e-mails about an Amish woman who uses the bus to get to her volunteer job, a legally blind man who rides the bus to work, a special-needs man who takes the bus to work, an elderly woman who travels by bus to doctor appointments and employees who may lose their jobs if Lititz loses bus service.

“This is a serious situation, and we need to do something about it,” Poling said.

Poling recommended everyone to write or call legislators to let them know how important bus service is to Lititz and other communities that will be affected by the service cuts.

“If nothing is done, those who need it most will suffer most,” said Kilmer. “We need a real solution to the transit problem, and we need it soon.”

(c) 2007 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.