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Green Mountain Transit warns Route 4 may be cut; asks Essex Junction to consider local funding
Summary
Green Mountain Transit told the Essex Junction City Council it may eliminate the underused Route 4 to help reduce a projected system deficit; GMT estimates Route 4 costs roughly $28 per ride and closing it would save about $112,000, and suggested local partners could raise funds to retain partial service for students and ADA riders.
Clayton Clark, general manager for Green Mountain Transit, told the Essex Junction City Council on April 15 that his agency is considering eliminating the Essex Circulator (Route 4) because of persistently low ridership and poor cost‑efficiency.
"The average cost per ride for our urban bus system is about $7," Clark said. "The cost per ride for the number 4 in its previous form was $28 per ride." He said GMT faces a projected systemwide deficit of about $2,500,000 for fiscal 2028 and that removing Route 4 would yield roughly $112,000 in net savings from personnel and fuel costs.
The presentation and council discussion centered on two practical questions: who uses Route 4 now and whether a reduced schedule or targeted local funding could preserve essential trips. Clark said Route 4 has averaged as few as 4–5 boardings per circuit this fiscal year and that GMT recently built a stop‑level dashboard using GPS and payment data to identify boardings by stop. "We have a new dashboard that's out...we took our GPS information from our bus and then the payment time information so that we could match those two up," he said.
Council members and attendees emphasized the route's importance to students, seniors and people who rely on ADA services. Clark said GMT has discussed options with the school district and that one likely pathway would be a locally funded, reduced schedule targeted to school needs. "One of the things we would probably suggest is having a period of time for people to adjust, where if the service were ended that we would continue to have the ADA service," Clark said, adding staff will need to coordinate how long paratransit runs parallel to fixed route changes.
GMT's board planned to consider the service reduction at its meeting the week following the council meeting. Clark asked the council to consider authorizing him to negotiate agreements with local partners — the town, the city and the school district — about raising local funds and tailoring any retained service. Council members urged staff to review the new ridership dashboard and to evaluate which stops and rider groups would be most affected before any final funding decision.
If the council or local partners opt to cover a portion of the cost, Clark said that is likely to permit a partial or school‑day schedule rather than full‑day service. Clark also said he had rescinded his earlier resignation and would remain GMT's general manager as the agency reviews options.
What's next: GMT's board will vote next week on whether to recommend eliminating or modifying Route 4; council staff said they would follow up on the dashboard data and report back for further discussion.
