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Green Mountain Transit reports ridership drops and warns of multimillion‑dollar shortfall
Summary
At the March 4 TAC meeting, Chris Damiani of Green Mountain Transit said urban ridership remains below pre‑cut levels, GMT is considering an urban‑only mission, and projected budget shortfalls could require major service reductions without new funding.
Chris Damiani of Green Mountain Transit told the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission’s Transportation Advisory Committee on March 4 that the agency has seen persistent declines in urban ridership since service reductions in November 2024 and is facing a significant budget gap.
Damiani said routes with larger service cuts — including the City Loop and consolidated Williston/Essex routes — experienced the steepest ridership losses. He said GMT tracks service efficiency using ridership per service hour and that the metric has been slightly lower over the past six months. "We are dependent on federal funding (roughly 65% operating and more than 80% capital)," he said, noting uncertainty about the next federal authorization in the fall.
The agency outlined its budget outlook: a projected FY27 deficit of about $560,000, which GMT said could be partially mitigated by changes to the Montpelier LINK route, and a projected FY28 deficit of about $2.7 million that GMT staff estimated could equate to roughly a 30% reduction in budgeted pay hours if unaddressed. Damiani also said federal performance awards contribute approximately $2.2 million per year to GMT’s revenue.
GMT described a possible shift toward an urban‑only mission, transferring rural routes to other providers (Franklin/Grand Isle service to Rural Community Transportation and Washington/Lamoille service to Tri‑Valley Transit) and is studying options like combining paratransit with publicly available microtransit to preserve coverage for riders with mobility needs. When asked about selection methods, Damiani said state factors and internal analyses informed route reduction decisions and that VTrans evaluates providers statewide to identify underperforming routes.
On fares and equity, Damiani said GMT has five fare categories and that, since fares were reinstated in July 2024, "44% of rides are being paid for by others" such as schools or employers. He said GMT is evaluating how changes to fare caps or service will affect vulnerable riders and routes that serve them. Damiani also noted that University of Vermont ridership accounts for about 30% of system ridership and that a change at UVM Medical Center last fall to unlimited employee rides increased usage.
GMT plans to launch an open data dashboard for public monitoring, has created a Rider Engagement and Access Council for user feedback, and is collaborating with South Burlington on a bus signal priority pilot on Williston Road. On the electric fleet, he reported GMT has about six to eight battery electric buses out of a fleet of more than 50 and that prior issues "have been fixed and they are back on the road."
The presentation closed with continued work to refine service scenarios and an acknowledgement that federal, state and local funding choices will shape GMT’s options going into FY27 and FY28.