Public Transit
Budget Cut

As the director of a public transportation provider, I admit that I was excited to see the following front-page headline in the March 12 Burlington Free Press: "Public Transit Ridership in US sets record in 2006." For over five years, I have been proud to be part of a service that brings many Vermonters’ to critical medical care, enables transit-dependent riders to access jobs, provides commuters a way to fight global warming, brings customers and employees to businesses and helps riders save gas money. To have my usually invisible industry lauded on the front-page was very gratifying.

Of course, my first thought was, "I wonder how Vermont fared compared to the rest of the US?" When the article went on to note that the 2.9% increase was a larger annual rise than any seen since 1957, my jaw dropped. Why? Because in Vermont, public transportation ridership in fiscal year 2006 rose by over three times that rate–9.3%! We weren’t performing just a little better than the rest of the nation, we were way ahead.

Then, I became very concerned. Despite this obvious desire for, and use of, public transportation within our state, I remembered that transit providers around the state were faced with the following fact: Vermont’s proposed Fiscal Year 2008 budget reduces (yes, reduces) public transportation funding by over 6%, from $20.1 million to $18.9 million.

This is difficult to understand. In an era of rising fuel prices, global warming, an aging population and the need for ways to make Vermont more affordable, investment in public transportation should be increasing, not decreasing. Limiting our options by reducing public transportation funding is not making Vermont a more affordable place to live.

Surprisingly, public transportation is a relatively cheap investment and relatively easy for each one of us to achieve. Vermont now spends less than $32 per capita on public transportation. For someone whose average round-trip commute is 20 miles per day, it would only take one trip per month by bus to have that $32 back in your pocket. That’s right, one trip per month.

Of course, public transportation will not solve the transportation needs of all Vermonters. But it is clearly solving the needs of an ever-growing number of us and the demand for more is undeniable. With so many benefits to be realized—economic, social and environmental—I have to ask, "Where is government’s commitment to public transportation?"

Jim Moulton,

Executive Director, Addison County Transit Resources

Chair, Vermont Public Transportation Association

(The Stagecoach, headquartered in Randolph, is one of the public transit agencies in Vermont which relies to some extent on state funding.—Ed..)