Tag Archives: flex funding

The Port Authority (PAT) unveiled its plans for service reductions this week, noting that if actions are not taken to close a $64 million budget gap a cut in service that would lower the number of bus and trolley routes from 102 to 56.

If it seems like familiar territory, it should.

Let’s place the cut in historical context, at least back to 2002 available data from PAT. As of September 2002 PAT operated 235 routes. That year, according to the National Transit Database there were 73.8 million unlinked trips on PAT. Service cuts came in September of 2002 and September of 2004; intervention by the Governor in 2005 staved off one round of service cuts; another round in June of 2007; the implementation of the transit development plan came in 2010 and 2011 and reduced routes through planning; another service reduction came last March and left PAT operating 102 routes, which was 133 fewer than what was operated in 2002.

There is not yet NTD data available for 2011 to show the impact of the cuts last March and the results of the transit development plan; in 2010 PAT delivered 66.1 million unlinked trips, about 11% lower than 2002.