RTA may hike fees, cut some routes

Proposal to absorb loss of sales tax revenue; public hearing Nov. 14.

The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority may be forced to raise fares, eliminate weekend services or cut low-ridership routes entirely to absorb a $4.5 million loss of sales tax revenue no longer received from Medicaid managed care, according to the agency.

A proposed plan to meet the expected shortfall targets the elimination of all current bus service to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Brookville and its Payless Shoesource Eastern Distribution Center, and the only service to New Lebanon. Route 61 to the Dayton Mall also faces elimination, but the area would continue to be served by other buses.

The public will have an opportunity to weigh in on the possible changes during meetings Tuesday, Nov. 14, and by phone and email.

“Nothing is set in stone,” said RTA spokeswoman Jessica Olson. “We want to make sure that our riders have a chance to let us know what they would like to see and share any ideas they might have to help us with our budget as well as preserve as many services as possible.”

Among the considerations to meet the shortage — about 6.2 percent of RTA’s annual revenue — is a hike in fares from $1.75 to $2. Although an across-the-board standard fare increase would not make up for the loss, Olson said some routes could potentially be preserved. Promotional fares that discourage the use of cash, which jams fare boxes leading to many road calls and stalled buses, are also being examined.

Olson said not all of the steps proposed — including cutting

some weekend services — would need to be implemented to bridge the funding gap.

“It would not be an all-ofthe-above approach,” she said. “We have more options listed than we need to cut.”

The routes targeted for elimination or reduced service represent about eight percent of current service hours but were selected because they are among the least productive, Olson said.

Any changes to fares or routes would take effect no earlier than early February, according to the RTA, which currently maintains 3,300 stops on 35 routes throughout Montgomery County and parts of Greene County.

Transit authorities as well as county governments — including Montgomery County — were tripped up by the federal change preventing the sales tax disbursement.

Efforts by transit authorities and the County Commissioners’ Association of Ohio to work with state lawmakers and the governor’s office to secure a federal waiver or agree to an alternative funding mechanisms ran into dead ends preventing a permanent fix.

“While we are very active in trying to find a solution that would secure this funding, in the long-term we also have be prepared for the possibility that a fix would not be found,” said Olson.

A temporary arrangement allows counties to receive the tax revenue through 2018.

Olson said the state indicated some lump-sum payments would come RTA’s way in order to weather the shortterm, but to date no payments have been received.

“We want to ensure that we have options in place if we are not getting that revenue,” she said.