St. Louis transit took biggest hit

St. Louis transit took biggest hit

By Elisa Crouch
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/19/2009

ST. LOUIS — Dozens of transit agencies took financial hits this year that forced them to cut service and increase fares. But the wallop to Metro was the hardest, according to a study released Tuesday of 25 transit agencies nationwide.

The report released Tuesday by Transportation for America, a coalition of housing, environmental, public health and other organizations that support public transportation, shows most transit agencies found state money or other funds to prevent the kinds of cuts Metro made.

"Nowhere have the cuts experienced by transit riders in recent months been so dramatic as in St. Louis," the report says.

Budget shortfalls forced Metro officials to cut 30 percent of bus, MetroLink and Call-A-Ride service in March. About half of that service was restored earlier this month with federal stimulus funds.

"This is a temporary fix," said Linda Dopuch of Metropolitan Congregations United. "If we do not create a sustainable funding base for mass transit, we will find our communities once again facing service cuts in 2010." .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/D2B5E6BA7163365886257617000277AB?OpenDocument