Centro bus route changes to have limited effect on students
Proposed changes to several Centro bus routes will have minimal effects on Syracuse University students who use the bus.
The Central New York Regional Transportation Authority is planning to combine or eliminate several Centro routes due to dwindling revenues, but none are routes SU students typically use.
‘We have been under financial constraint for some time now, and with New York state revenues down, we cannot continue to operate without some cuts,’ said Casey Brown, communications coordinator for the transportation authority.
Centro’s revenues come from a combination of New York state aid and a share of the mortgage recording tax revenues. Those revenues dropped to about $1.7 million in the past couple of years, and state aid for 2011 is set to be $1.8 million less than in previous years.
Centro has been able to mitigate the impact of three years of underperforming revenue streams through the use of reserve funds and a fare increase, among other measures, said Frank Kobliski, executive director of the transportation authority, in a statement on Centro’s website.
‘Unless there is a significant shift in policy at the New York state level toward funding of public transit, we will be forced to re-size many Centro services accordingly in 2011,’ he said in the statement.
These proposed cuts would consolidate four Auburn/Syracuse routes into two, eliminate the run between Fairmount/West Genesee and Syracuse, and combine two routes between Cicero/North Syracuse and Syracuse.
‘These changes will have minimal impact on Syracuse University students,’ Brown said. ‘We are trying to save money by looking at routes that were underperforming and making a decision that will impact the least but that will make a financial difference.’
These are not the first bus route changes by Centro this year. On March 1, Centro discontinued its Oak Darlington and Minoa/Suburban East routes, according to an article published in The Daily Orange on March 9. Centro also made changes in stops and times for the East Colvin and SU Nob Hill routes, according to the article.
An estimated 50 to 100 people will be affected by the changes, but plans are still flexible until Centro’s Board of Directors gives approval. There will be two public hearings Tuesday in Port Byron and at Bishop Ludden Junior/Senior High School before the board’s hearing Nov. 29 to finalize plans.
‘We do as much research as we possibly can before presenting plans for changes,’ Brown said. ‘But we also have to listen to folks who are being affected and find a happy medium because we don’t want people to feel like they were left behind.’
Changes to the routes will be effective Jan. 17. Should finances not improve, more routes could be cut in April, Brown said. But Centro is hoping gas prices will decrease and riders will increase to prevent further cuts in the spring, he said.
‘It is just a matter of timing,’ Brown said. ‘If the economy does not turn around, then we may have to consider consolidating more routes in the near future.’
Some SU students said they are happy non-SU routes are being changed, rather than fares going up for the whole system.
‘If they are going to narrow down our bus options, they better not charge us more, too,’ said Adele Pedulla, a sophomore sculpture major. ‘There is already so much waiting involved when you want to get somewhere by bus, hopefully these changes won’t make it any harder to travel.’
Published on November 16, 2010 at 12:00 pm
