County considers cutting bus service

Clayton County bus riders will likely see dramatic cuts in service to help with the county’s budget woes.

The county loses about $8 million a year on its C-TRAN bus service.

“It’s something we really need to get a handle on,” Commissioner Wole Ralph said Tuesday night. “This is a big dollar sign.”

County officials are considering cutting weekend service, along with service during the week that is not during the morning and evening rush hours. They are also looking at eliminating some routes with low ridership, including the bus that circles Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, said Jeff Metarko, the county’s transportation and development director.

Fare hikes also are possible.

The county pays MARTA about $8.1 million a year to operate 24 buses in Clayton. It spends another $2 million on fuel, insurance and other costs, Metarko said.

However, the county only brings in about $2.5 million in revenue from the bus service, Metarko said.

Chairman Eldrin Bell said transit never funds itself.

“I am vehemently opposed to any cuts to transit,” he said Wednesday. “This would hurt the citizens and the businesses who depend on those workers. I’m also concerned about the disabled people who need the bus to get dialysis and other medical services.”

About 61 percent of Clayton’s bus riders use the service to get to work; another 10 percent use it to get to school, Bell said.

The county hopes to save some money by switching from MARTA, which began service in October 2007, to Veolia Transportation, which runs Cobb County’s transit system, said Frank Beauford, Clayton’s public transit coordinator.

Federal Transportation Administration guidelines require the county to hold public hearings before making any cuts in service.