Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transit Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
People's Transit cites federal cuts, plans propane-bus expansion and local fare hike
Summary
People's Transit executive director Gail Klute told commissioners the agency will add two propane buses and raise local fares Oct. 1 because federal funding has been reduced; she said the agency has covered operating shortfalls with reserves and expects continued strain without new funding.
Gail Klute, executive director of People's Transit, told the commission the agency expects two additional propane buses to arrive within months, bringing the propane portion of the fleet to eight of 12 cutaway buses. She described propane adoption as a fuel‑cost and environmental strategy and said maintenance indicators for propane buses have been favorable.
Klute said federal funding for transit has fallen in recent years and that her agency has used reserves to make ends meet. "Last year, it cost us over $220,000 out of our reserves just to make it to the end of the fiscal year," she said, and projected the agency may use close to $300,000 from reserves this year without a funding change. To help cover the shortfall the agency will raise local fares beginning Oct. 1: youth and senior fares increasing from $2.50 to $3.00 one-way and the general public fare rising from $3.50 to $4.00 one-way.
Commissioners asked whether the cutbacks originate at the federal or state level and whether the city could help the agency leverage legislative support. Klute said the funding reduction appears to begin at the federal level and the state then allocates less to the agencies, and she asked for data to present to legislators. Klute also noted People's Transit will host the Dakota Transit Association conference in September and requested community support for fundraising and advertising partnerships.
What the city approved: there was no vote tied to immediate city funding; the item was a semi-annual presentation and a request for the city's ongoing partnership and awareness.
