WRTA moving quickly to bring back services

When we read recently that the Western Reserve Transit Authority was restoring night and Saturday bus service, we thought of 84-year-old Margaret Agoney, who talked last year about the cuts brought on by WRTA’s financial difficulties:

“I don’t drive, don’t have a car and I depend on the bus,” Agoney said, about a month before Mahoning County voters were to decide on a 0.25, five-year sales tax for the transit authority. The elderly resident offered an example of how the cancellation of night and weekend bus service had affected her life: She was forced to hand in her bingo cards because she had no way of getting to the hall to play.

There were many such stories from bus riders who expressed the same sentiment: Public transportation is part of their daily living.

Voters, who had rejected a quarter-percent sales tax increase in the March primary, had a change of heart in November. The issue was approved by a surprisingly strong margin.

Thus the headline in the Jan. 31 edition of The Vindicator: “WRTA keeps promise, restores night, Sat. service.” After a two-year absence, that certainly was good news.

The night schedule was launched Monday, while WRTA buses began Saturday service yesterday. It was a welcomed sight.

There also were added routes: The 40-Austin-town bus to Wal-Mart on Mahoning Avenue; and the 31-Oak bus that serves Campbell and Struthers Liberty Road.

For Youngstown property owners, last November’s vote meant the end of two property tax levies that generated $2.6 million a year for the WRTA. Collections stopped at the end of the year; the sales tax will go into effect in April.

The transit authority receives money from the federal and state governments, but there has been a reduction in the amount. And, the current national economic crisis has forced authority officials to revise their projections of what the sales tax will bring in — $6 million, instead of $7 million.

Bottom line

This means that while the WRTA strives to meet its September deadline for the start of countywide services, the administration and board of directors must keep an eye on the bottom line.

The countywide plan calls for door-to-door operations utilizing 12-passenger vans, suburban cross-town service and express routes to Youngstown State University.

There also will be fixed routes unveiled in September providing for more frequent service.

While the rollout of these and other offerings should go a long way toward establishing the WRTA as a true metropolitan public transportation entity, there are issues that still need to be addressed.

We have previously called for a meeting of the minds to explore the possibility of the various public transportation agencies that operate in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys working together.

There are cost savings to be derived from the creation of a true regional entity, but given the provincial attitudes that prevail in this area, such a goal is all but impossible to achieve.

Nonetheless, we renew our call to members of Congress from the Mahoning and Shenango valleys to bring together the various operators for a discussion about the future of public transportation.

There might even be mass transit money in the economic stimulus package that would facilitate the creation of a regional authority.