Seldom-used bus routes in San Benito County may be headed to the
chopping block soon, depending on if elected officials think the
bus system is cost effective for the county.
Hollister – Seldom-used bus routes in San Benito County may be headed to the chopping block soon, depending on if elected officials think the bus system is cost effective for the county.
“It’s very evident to me, particularly with some of the fixed routes, that (buses) are just not being utilized and I’d like to eliminate those expenditures,” San Benito County supervisor and Council of Governments member Anthony Botelho said. “I don’t want to say eliminate it just right off the get go here, I want to sit down with staff and discuss it.”
Several COG directors said they were unsatisfied with the lack of information available about the bus system’s riders and its cost to local governments during a meeting Thursday. COG is responsible for maintaining the county’s public transportation, among other duties.
Botelho asked for information on ridership for local bus routes in January, but the information presented Thursday only detailed the number of average riders per hour at COG’s seven bus routes in the county – ranging from as few as three on the Nash Road route to as many as 22 on the Southside route. The report didn’t provide data on how many riders have been served this year or how much money the system has cost.
“I’m getting a little bit impatient at the lack of progress, but we were assured that we’re going to have a report by the next meeting,” he said.
County Supervisor and COG Director Pat Loe echoed Botelho’s feelings about Thursday’s report.
“That (report) doesn’t give me the in-depth information I need,” said Loe. “What I was asking for is a running total of expenses that we’ve spent this year on gasoline and repairs and such. Hopefully we’ll have that by the June meeting.”
Loe said COG’s annual audit will be available in a month or two, but she said it may not give her all the answers she’s looking for either.
COG Chairwoman and Hollister Mayor Pauline Valdivia appointed Loe and Botelho to a subcommittee to work with COG staff and generate the hard numbers about the bus system’s operation costs and service needs by May.
“There’s still concerns in the community that some of the ridership is lower, or (people) see empty buses or whatever,” Valdivia said. “If any recommendations are made to modify routes, I want to make sure the research is out there so we can accomplish this.”
Long-time COG critic and transportation lawyer Joe Thompson said he blamed COG’s staff and Executive Director Tom Quigley for the lack of information at Thursday’s meeting.
“COG’s directors can’t figure out what COG’s financial condition is,” he said, adding that no business could survive if they operated in the same fashion.
Quigley could not be reached Friday despite repeated phone calls by the Free Lance.
Botelho said simply axing the entire program isn’t an option for COG either because state and federal laws mandate public transportation be available for residents.
“That’s why there’s a lot of these services, even though they don’t seem to be very cost effective,” he said.
The director added he would consider cutting little-used routes and replacing them with Dial-a-Ride – a transportation service providing individual residents with specific transportation needs.
“Even though the costs are slightly higher per passenger, it’s better than running empty buses around half the day,” Botelho said.
