RTC cuts change routes

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - 2:19 AM

Speak up about RTC Ride

What: Open houses

Why: To discuss solutions for the 10 percent proposed cuts to RTC Ride and the 25 percent proposed cut to RTC

When: 8 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday at RTC Citicenter, South Building and 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Friday at the RTC Centennial Plaza in Sparks

What: Public hearing

Why: RTC will discuss suggestions from the open houses and accept public comment on the proposed RTC Ride reductions. The commission might decide where to make some or all of the cuts, which could go into effect in May.

When: No earlier than 9:05 a.m. Feb. 12, RTC offices, 2050 Villanova Drive

Backpack in tow, Nirali Budhecha shuffles to her first bus stop at Virginia Street and Plumb Lane before 8 a.m. each school day. The 18-year-old computer engineering major climbs onto the Route 1 bus and takes RTC Ride to the hub on Center and Third streets, where she tries to catch the route 7 bus in time. If Route 7, which runs every 30 minutes, isn’t going to arrive soon, Budhecha walks another block to a Sierra Spirit bus stop, so she can get to the University of Nevada, Reno .

When she needs to go to the Truckee Meadows Community College for her other classes, she rides Sierra Spirit from a stop near UNR to Route 15. Budhecha used to take a single route to TMCC, but it was eliminated last year when RTC cut its budget.

“It sucks,”said Budhecha, who doesn’t yet have a driver’s license. “It takes a lot more time than it used to. I’m spending more time just in transportation.”

Budhecha’s journey could possibly become even more complicated if a proposed 25 percent budget cut to RTC is implemented next week. The deficit comes after sales tax declined and voters failed to pass a one-eighth percent sales tax increase in a 2008 ballot initiative.

RTC is considering a 10 percent cut to RTC Ride and other services, which would be effective in May if passed. The commission is still sorting through where other cuts will have to be made to make up the total 25 percent cut proposal.

A 2.5 percent cut made in 2008 to the free bus service Sierra Spirit will eliminate one of its three buses and shorten the route at its southern end March 1.

RTC is trying to preserve services and low rates as much as possible because there aren’t any low-cost alternative transportation services available and “the majority of our ridership is truly dependent on public transportation,”RTC spokesman Roger Hanson said.

Budhecha moved to the United States from India about four years ago and hasn’t had time to take her driver’s test between school and work. Her only form of transportation is the bus system â€” a service she calls helpful but difficult to navigate. If more cuts are implemented, she could end up waiting even longer, which means waking up earlier and spending more time in transit just to make it to school.

RTC Ride

The commission cut 9 percent from the RTC ride budget last year and is considering another 10 percent cut in 2009, a service 465 University of Nevada, Reno students and faculty bought passes for last year. The cuts mean some re-routing, but most of the impact will be felt with less frequent bus stops.

“The 10 percent we’re cutting is the single biggest cut we’ve ever done on Ride,”Hanson said. “We might have to cut further in August. We’re trying not to cut back on areas we are serving. Instead, buses will become more crowded.”

RTC Ride buses that used to stop every 15 minutes might only come every half-hour, and half-hour waits could turn into hour-long ones, RTC spokeswoman Felicia Archer said.

RTC invites the Reno community to attend open houses this week and a public hearing Feb. 12 and give alternative input suggestions to the board. The commission will take ideas including how to boost revenue and where to make changes.

RTC Ride operates on a $27, 929,000 budget with about 70 percent of that coming from sales tax. Last year, the service provided 9,056,500 rides, collecting $7,318,000 in fares at various prices, depending on what pass riders buy.

Increasing fares for the Ride Service hasn’t been considered as a top priority solution because the rates are already as high as other systems in other places that only offer a bus service, Hanson said.

SIERRA SPIRIT

Sierra Spirit will eliminate one of its three buses and part of its route March 1. Photo by Devin Sizemore.

As of March 1, UNR students and Reno residents who use the Sierra Spirit bus stops south of Second Street will have to walk at least a block further to catch the bus.

To keep the bus running every 10 minutes, the bus will shorten its route and eliminate the stops from the Nevada Museum of Art on Liberty Street up to Second Street.

For Budhecha, the Sierra Spirit changes won’t affect her schedule. She hops onto the yellow bus on Third Street and said she’s relieved it will still stop every 10 minutes.

“If they changed it, I would have to get to number 7 earlier and wait even longer for that instead,”she said. “Right now, (Sierra Spirit) is perfect timing.”

“I’ll only have to wake up a bit earlier, that’s better than using my car,”18-year-old Bryan Alvarez, who rides Sierra Spirit twice a day to help the environment, said.

Alvarez, whose apartment is on First Street and Arlington Avenue, said he doesn’t mind walking an extra block to the bus stop.

RTC said it hopes the Sierra Spirit cut backs will be fairly minimal to the community.

“We get a lot of ridership on the Sierra Spirit,”Hanson said. “It’s oriented toward the university and those stops won’t change.”

Ian Concilun, an 18-year-old English and psychology double major, said “it’s not a huge inconvenience”to walk further to the bus stop in downtown Reno when some of those are cut.

For some who use both RTC Ride and Sierra Spirit, the impacts are harsher.

“If they’re making changes, it’s going to hurt a lot of people,”Budhecha said as she waited at a Sierra Spirit bus stop after getting off Route 1 at the hub. “It will be freakin’ hard.”

RTC ride changes to be considered and possibly adopted Feb. 12

Reduce peak hour frequency on Route 1, 13 and 16 on weekdays

Reduce peak hour frequency on Route 1, 5 and 13 on Saturday

Reduce midday frequency on Route 1, 6, 9, 13 and 16 on weekdays

Reduce midday frequency on Route 1, 5, 11, 15 and 21 on Saturday

Drop midday service on Route 2s, 3CC and 57 on weekdays

Drop midday service on Route 25 and 57 on Saturday

Drop midday service on Route 4, 13 and 57 on Sunday

Discontinue service on 14A and 19 on weekdays

Discontinue service on Route 2S on Saturday and Sunday

Discontinue service on 3CC, 14A and 19 on Saturday

Drop last trip on Route 3CC on weekdays

Drop last trip on Route 5 on Saturday

Drop 1 peak trip, cut evening, but run late on weekday nights on Route 18

RTC access changes to be considered and possibly adopted Feb. 12

RTC Access, a door-to-door service for people with disabilities, is facing a possible fare increase from $1.75 to $4. The commission hopes to encourage people to instead use the RTC Ride program and reduce ridership access by 25 percent.

Jessica Fryman can be reached at jfryman@nevadasagebrush.com.