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TCAT officials outline fleet, ridership and funding challenges in council presentation
Summary
TCAT general manager and board chair gave the Ithaca Common Council a data-driven briefing on ridership recovery, fleet shortages and funding structure, saying fares cover only about 5% of operating revenue and that federal, state and local matches drive most funding decisions.
Matthew Rosenblum Jones, general manager of Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT), and Laura Lewis, TCAT board chair and former Ithaca mayor, presented an overview of TCAT’s operations and finances to the Ithaca Common Council on May 7. The presentation summarized ridership, fleet condition, funding sources and workforce recruitment efforts and answered council questions about fares, park-and-ride options and hiring.
“Public transit doesn’t make money. The fares only cover a very small amount of our operating expenses. In the case of TCAT, it’s only about 5%,” Rosenblum Jones said, describing TCAT’s revenue mix and why most funding must come from public sources. He told council members TCAT ran slightly more than 1.2 million revenue miles in a year and carried nearly 3 million riders in 2024, operating roughly 53 buses on 25 fixed routes plus seasonal service.
Rosenblum Jones said TCAT’s largest single source…
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