The new budget for the State of California cuts $536 million from transit operations. Says Joshua Shaw, executive director of the California Transit Association, 'We will see fare increases. We will see service cuts. We will see layoffs.'
"Of course, the Governor couldn't slash transit funds without the support of the state legislature. While the League of California Environmental Voters, Environmental Defense and the National Resources Defense Council placed the blame at the feet of a "radical minority" of Republicans who used the state's super-majority requirement for any budget to effectively stall democratic efforts, other transit groups blamed the Democratic majority for not not holding firm on protecting the environment.
In the short term, readers should call their legislators and demand that transit funding be restored to the budget. In the long term, the environmental groups want to change the super-majority law so that a small group of legislators can't hijack the entire budget process.
So what does this mean locally? While Metro promised that there would be no fare hikes in the next fiscal year and their proposed service adjustments and cuts are modest compared to previous years; their current budget is balanced assuming that the agency would receive $227 million in operating assistance from the STA."
Read the full story: Cal Transit Association on State Budget: Armageddon Is Here
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