Clayton transit cuts on the table

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By Ariel Hart

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Clayton County could eliminate all county bus service on Saturdays or Sundays.

Sixty-five percent of C-Tran bus riders said they have no other transportation option, Clayton County Comission Chairman Eldrin Bell said.

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Other options to help a massive budget shortfall include fare increases or possibly cutting bus service in the county altogether.

The county commission will vote Tuesday on a list of possible cuts to C-TRAN, the county's mass transit system, County Commission ChairmanEldrin Bell said.

More than over 100 people attended a county hearing Wednesday night, with scores speaking against the proposed cuts, according to people who were there.

Other possible cuts on the list include eliminating all service completely as of July 1, 2010. That seems unlikely: Bell said Thursday he had no indication that any of the commissioners wanted the total shutdown.

However, a fare increase, perhaps to $2, may have support. A separate, temporary surcharge of $1.75 could bring the fare to $3.75 for a period of six months.

Bell said that a weekend closure would be as devastating to workers in the service industries as a weekday closure would be for office workers. He believes the county ought to find funds to make up the shortfall. Right now C-TRAN is funded by business license fees and fares, he said.

“Any cuts to C-TRAN will be catastrophic,” Bell said.

C-TRAN had about 2 million rides last year, Bell said. Sixty percent of those ride were for people going to work and about 9 percent were people going to school.

And 65 percent of riders said they have no other transportation option, Bell said.

Commissioner Wole Ralph said in an interview Thursday that he saw no realistic sources of revenue to make up the difference.

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, county officials said.

Last month, MARTA threatened to end its contract with Clayton if the county did not address a $1.3 million shortfall.

Bell said he hopes to raise sales tax to fund the bus system.

He plans to ask state legislature to lift a cap that limits the amount of sales tax that can be charged at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. By adding an additional penny sales tax at the airport, the county could raise $3 million a year, Bell said.

Other options include asking voters to approve a penny sales tax countywide to be help fund transit, including buses and the proposed commuter rail, Bell said.

Bell, who was at the public hearing Wednesday, complained that no other county commissioners attended. Ralph said that he had told the person who suggested Wednesday that he is studying and had class that day.

The event was not a commission meeting, and commissioners were not required to attend.

Staff Reporter Megan Matteucci contributed to this report.