No decision yet on bus service cuts

The finance committee has once again carried over its discussion on cutting BJCTA bus and paratransit services after a tense meeting with BJCTA officials on Monday, Dec. 8. Without a new decision, BJCTA will be cutting services at the beginning of the year.

This meeting centered around VIP paratransit services, which provide door-to-door pickup for elderly and disabled riders living within three-quarters of a mile of a BJCTA bus stop. About 69 Homewood residents are active riders of the paratransit buses.

In last week’s meeting, BJCTA executive director Ann August suggested that service on two of Homewood’s three routes be reduced to peak hours, with no service between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. This would reduce the service costs to around $131,000, matching Homewood’s 50 percent decrease in contributions to BJCTA. Although she had no data about the hours that riders use the paratransit services, August warned that cutting mid-day services would harm disabled riders in the city.

Henry Ikwut-Ukwa, the BJCTA manager of planning and development, added that many paratransit riders take the buses in the morning to appointments or errands, but cannot complete them within the morning service window. Under the proposed peak hours plan, paratransit riders would be stranded without transportation until the buses resume service at 3 p.m.

“That three-hour window is too little for them to go out, keep the appointment, finish what they are doing and come back,” Ikwut-Ukwa said.

The committee considered running paratransit lines throughout the day in addition to normal lines, but August said the paratransit services are complementary and cannot be independent of fixed routes. Ward 1 Place 2 Representative Britt Thames also proposed expanding ClasTran services in Homewood to compensate for lost paratransit services. This would be more cost-efficient from the city’s standpoint, but the ClasTran fares are $4, double those of the BJCTA.

“The option we’ve been given by the [Transit] Authority is an all or nothing option, and we could fill that gap much cheaper with ClasTran,” Ward 3 Place 2 Representative Walter Jones said.

Communication issues between the city and BJCTA were a repeat topic throughout the meeting. Both Thames and Ward 2 Place 1 Representative Fred Hawkins said they had almost never heard from BJCTA officials throughout their service on the council. The committee also brought up that the BJCTA increased Homewood’s rates by $47,000 in the 2013-2014 fiscal year without notice. After the council approved its reduced contribution in September, there was also confusion on both sides about billing and service changes.

“There’s not good communication going on for a non-represented municipality,” Ward 5 Place 2 Representative Peter Wright said. “That needs to change.”

Currently, Homewood’s full bus services continue. The decision has been carried over to the next finance committee meeting, which will be on Jan. 5 unless a specially called meeting is scheduled earlier. In the meantime, the council will get a proposal from ClasTran for the cost of additional services.

However, August said that the BJCTA implements its 2015 service changes on Dec. 22. In absence of a new decision on the committee’s part, Routes 39 and 42 will begin peak-hours operation on that date.

“We’re moving forward,” August said.