BURLINGTON — Vermont’s largest public transit provider has proposed cutting at least a quarter of its local and regional bus services over the next year in order to save up to $3 million that the agency said would fill a projected gap in its operating budget.
The reductions, which Green Mountain Transit leaders announced at a press conference in Burlington on Wednesday, are not yet final. The agency is scheduling five public hearings to take feedback on its plans over the next two months.
But Clayton Clark, the agency’s general manager, said the proposals reflect the reality of the agency’s finances, which were buoyed over the past several years by an influx of pandmeic-era federal funding. Now, though, he said that funding is slated to run dry at some point next year.
“This plan that we’re putting together is one out of necessity — not because we’re looking to increase profits, not because we’re looking to do anything other than stay financially viable,” Clark told reporters.
The proposed cuts would take place in three stages and range from reducing bus frequencies and limiting weekend services to the complete elimination of three bus routes throughout Chittenden County by next summer. Clark said he hopes the last phase won’t be necessary, though, calling it a “worst case scenario.”
The agency tried to propose reductions, where possible, on bus trips that had both relatively low ridership and relatively high operating costs, the general manager said.
The first phase, slated to go into effect in November and December of this year if the plan is approved, would reduce the frequency of weekend service on routes serving Burlington, Shelburne and Winooski and would eliminate Saturday service on the No. 10 bus between Williston and Essex. A commuter route that runs between Jeffersonville and Burlington would also be shut down.
Then in February and March 2025, the agency would do away with a little-used commuter route from Essex Junction to Burlington and would cut one midday trip on a commuter bus between Milton and Burlington. It would also reroute an existing commuter route between Burlington and St. Albans through Milton to reduce the number of buses operating north of the Queen City.
The final phase, in June 2025, would put in place the most drastic reductions — and so, if necessary, save Green Mountain Transit the most money, Clark said. It includes the complete elimination of three local bus routes: the No. 8 City Loop, which serves Burlington’s downtown and Old North End; the No. 10 Williston-Essex route, and the No. 11 Airport route, which runs between Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport and downtown Burlington.
That phase would also completely eliminate weekend service on the No. 5 Pine Street route in Burlington, and reduce weekend service on Burlington’s No. 7 North Ave. route as well as the No. 6 Shelburne, No. 2 Essex and No. 1 Williston routes.
Clark said he was especially concerned by the prospect of eliminating the No. 10 route in Williston and Essex because that would leave many Essex Town residents without any nearby public transportation options. He said Green Mountain Transit plans to meet with Essex Town officials to discuss alternative local transit options.
Clark was less concerned, he said, about the potential elimination of the No. 11 Airport route, noting that agency data shows that “very few” people actually use that route to travel to and from the Burlington airport, specifically. That’s likely because the route’s schedule does not align well with some of the most popular times for departing and arriving flights, he said, acknowledging that makes it “not a great option.”
More people, Clark added, use the No. 11 route’s other stops on its way to and from downtown — and many, though not all, of those stops are within a short walking distance of stops served by other Green Mountain Transit bus routes.
Combined, the three bus routes that could be cut in the third phase saw more than 200,000 total trips in the 2023 fiscal year, which spanned July 2022 to June 2023, agency data shows. The agency’s most-used routes — the No. 1 Williston and No. 2 Essex Junction, which would see reduced weekend service — served about 475,000 and 420,000 total trips, respectively, in the same time period.
Clark said that as the agency has eyed lesser-used routes for cuts next year, it’s aware of the impact eliminating public transit, at any level, can have on people’s lives. The agency is anticipating strong public opposition to some of its proposals, he said.
“They’re going to have an emotional response, because this means that their life may become harder — they may not be able to live in the place that they’re currently living, because they may not have transportation,” Clark said, referring to bus riders. “And so that’s why we’re going to do everything we can to limit these cuts.”
Clark said that right now, the agency is projecting a budget hole closer to $2 million than $3 million when accounting for staff vacancies and additional federal money beyond pandemic-era relief funds secured with help from the state.
But there are other sources of uncertainty — including from some of the municipalities that pay to support Green Mountain Transit’s service. Hinesburg recently decided to pull out of the transit system, he noted. Meanwhile, Clark said two other municipalities — which he declined to name — have expressed concerns at the amount Green Mountain Transit is charging them.
The agency relies on a mix of local, state and federal funding to support its service. It also started charging fares earlier this year for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic, though Clark told reporters that revenue won’t be nearly enough to fill the gaps.
“We will only implement the reductions that are necessary based on our financial situation,” he said. “So, if our funding gap is $2 million, then you know that we won’t be cutting more than $2 million worth of service.”
