Through the window, I see cuts

Metro light rail service cuts have been talked about a lot lately. Heck, the “potential” for light rail service cuts have been talked about here for quite some time.

This week began a series of public meetings to talk about the specific cuts proposed to the bus and the light rail systems. From one person, I heard the first meeting didn’t exactly sound productive.

Proposed changes to the light rail service and their estimated cost savings are listed as follows:

• Eliminate Friday late night service until 2 a.m. –  train would stop running at 12 a.m. on Fridays. (Estimated annual savings – $64,120)

• Eliminate Saturday late night service until 2 a.m. – train would stop running at 12 a.m. on Saturdays. (Estimated annual savings – $40,320)

• Change peak service hours FROM 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. TO 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Estimated annual savings – $70,560)

• Change service hours FROM 4 a.m. to 12 a.m. TO 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Estimated annual savings – $89,880)

• Reduce peak hour service from every 10 minutes to every 12 minutes. (Estimated annual savings – $112,280)

• Reduce peak hour service from every 10 minutes to every 15 minutes. (Estimated annual savings – $138,880)

Recently, Sean Holstege interviewed incoming Metro CEO Steve Banta to get a feel for how things are going with his new gig. The AZ Central article titled, “Meet Metro’s new chief: Service is the key” gives us a look at some of Steve’s philosophy of being a “hands on” type of leader, one that likes to know what is happening on the streets, in the light rail cars and even in the neighborhoods along the line. From Sean, we learn that Metro’s chief lives in Willo and takes the light rail to work. With plans to meet business owners along the light rail line, Steve sounds like he has a desire to know what riders look for in a transit system,

“I call it the view through the windshield. If we all understand what the operator sees and the mechanic sees every day, then our system will succeed.” – Steve Banta – Metro CEO 

It’s not until the end of the article until we hear anything about budget cuts. Banta describes the scale of cuts this way: “They are unfortunate, not drastic. It’s not draconian.”

Using Steve’s window analogy towards good service, I say… The cuts are coming. Most of the cuts don’t really sound too bad but all of them together, if imposed, would seem a little much. We all know and have heard how the cities, states and the Fed’s must cut costs and most people understand the economics of it. Given the fact that I am NOT a politician or a policy maker, I just hope some of them are paying attention…