On Jan. 5 Santa Cruz County’s METRO, the Santa Cruz County Metropolitan Transit District, announced it must reduce the system’s annual operating budget by $6.5 million for the next fiscal year.
METRO spent $54.9 million to run the buses for the fiscal year encompassing July 2014 to June 2015.
On March 10, METRO held a public forum at the IOOF Building in Boulder Creek. More than 30 concerned citizens attended, including representatives of the Boulder Creek Business Association, Valley Women’s Club, Valley Churches United Missions, Mountain Community Resources, and the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District Office.
Supervisor Bruce McPherson, who is on METRO’s Board of Directors, METRO CEO Alex Clifford, and METRO Planning Director Barrow Emerson all stressed the need to reduce the annual operating budget. The needed changes may include: frequency of buses, the length of a service day, fewer service days of the week — with a possibility of Saturday and/or Sunday services eliminated, and the elimination of some routes altogether.
On March 25 Clifford will present the initial service reduction proposal to the METRO Board of Directors. During the public meeting he made it clear that the public’s response will be very important. He said everyone should wait to see how the cuts will affect the San Lorenzo Valley and then write letters or send emails through the METRO website.
The Boulder Creek Business Association will organize a letter writing campaign to help reinforce the importance of bus service to the San Lorenzo Valley, according to Secretary Janet Coit.
“At that time we will need our area to be loud and make our voices heard. Although all areas will most likely have some reductions, we need to be sure this transportation lifeline is still available to those who depend on it in the San Lorenzo Valley,” Coit said.
