MITS Watch . . . cutbacks . . . July 9, 2008
MITS is starting the process of cutting back service in response to property tax reforms rolling in this year, one of the first local government units to do so. All the others — townships, county, library, most of all the city of Muncie — will follow eventually.
The bus company looks to pull the plug on the free Downtown Trolley service that shuffles people (many of whom should be walking) mostly from free parking spots at Central High School’s Fieldhouse to the County Building and other locales further south in downtown.
MITS runs the service with replicas of early 20th Century trolleys, and the company says the street cars “have proven immensely popular with riders of all ages.” Lots of county employees use the service daily, but evidently MITS just does not draw enough of those riders of all ages to keep running.
In addition to ending the trolleys, MITS proposes ending Route #18, which serves Wilson Middle School. The route goes from downtown, south on Hoyt Avenue to Memorial, then west to Tillotson and south to the school.
Two more proposed changes: to cut back late morning to mid-afternoon runs on two routes: #7, from the downtown terminal out East Jackson to Country Club Road and back through Mayfield addition and #10, the Heekin Park route which goes from downtown to South Side High School and back on Hackley and Madison Streets. Service would cease from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Depending on what proposed cuts are made, MITS hopes to save between $250,000 and $400,000, and could reduce staffing by 3-4 people, all by attrition, with no layoffs. MITS employs about 90 staff on an anual budget of $7.9 million. Much of the funding is from federal and state sources, but MITS raises about $3.5 million from property taxes annually.
Already, the company has left several vacancies open in anticipation of the move. MITS management looked glum this week as they pondered what cuts to propose.
The Downtown Trolley has the second lowest passenger counts of 16 routes run by MITS. The run out to Wilson is lowest. Then comes the East Jackson route, though both it and the Heekin run have much higher numbers during early morning and late afternoon hours.
MITS will hold hearings on the proposed service cutbacks on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at 5:30 p.m. and the next morning at 8:30 a.m. at its office on Seymour Street (with bus service to the hearings available).
Seems odd that in a time of skyrocketing gasoline prices that might finally drive people to hop on the bus for a 50-cent ride more often, MITS looks to cut back, but, then, those sky-high costs of oil barrels his the buses just as hard. As well, in general economic downturns, MITS experiences ridership drops.
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