Public commenter urges Greenville County to cut Greenlink funding, citing high per-ride subsidy

Joe Farmer, a resident speaking during public comment, urged Greenville County to end county funding for Greenlink and to reallocate transit dollars to road maintenance.

"Today, I present you facts about Greenlink," Farmer said, listing figures he attributed to 2024: $14,600,000 in expenses, $652,000 in revenue and 434,667 riders (a decrease of about 15,000 from the prior year). He said that works out to a cost per passenger of $33.66 and, after a $1.50 fare, a $32.16 government subsidy per ride.

Farmer also criticized recent capital spending and operations decisions. He said Greenlink opened a $58,000,000 maintenance-and-operations center and took possession of two CNG buses at a claimed combined cost of $1,500,000; he told the committee the buses and the new filling station had incompatible connections and that bids are out to retrofit the station. He said interim bids were issued for nine remanufactured diesel engines and that five battery-electric buses are expected by year end.

"So what's the plan? Why three different types of fuel?" Farmer asked, and said the result is added maintenance complexity and what he called a "failure of leadership." He urged the council to strongly consider cutting county funding in the next budget cycle, saying an extra $3,000,000 a year could be redirected to roads.

The comments were presented as Farmer's figures and conclusions; the committee did not take formal action or record a staff response during the meeting. Speaker 2 thanked him and moved on to the next public commenter.