Macon transit puts fewer buses on road after budget cuts, making it hard on riders
Fewer people are riding Macon buses these days. And those who are may be waiting longer to board.
Over the past two years, the Macon-Bibb County Transit Authority has dealt with a $1.2 million budget reduction and in response transit officials are putting a half dozen fewer buses on the road.
The changes should save the transit system between $300,000-$400,000 this year, but so far there’s evidence it’s impacting some riders, said Craig Ross, president and CEO of the transit authority.
The latest changes recently went into effect last week. It’s lead to some riders waiting longer for buses after the peak morning hours.
“It’s starting to affect ridership,” Ross said. “We were running probably close to 3,000 passengers a day. Now that’s dropped to a little below 2,000.”
Several years ago there were 1 million trips taken on Macon buses and this year the system is on track to have 500,000-600,000 trips taken, Ross said.
“It’s not going to break us,” Ross added. “It’s because of the inconsistency of the buses. The customers understand and they’re still riding. We understand ,too, that if we can’t provide enough transportation they’ll have to look at other sources. We hope they come back once our funding gets back to the way it should be.”
Some changes targeted the midday when fewer people ride buses. Those adjustments involve reducing the number of buses on five of the routes after the morning routes are finished.
Another cost-cutting measure means the last buses depart from the downtown transfer station one hour earlier each morning. The last morning buses now leave the station about 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m.
There were some alterations along some routes for safety reasons. A north Macon route, which had its last stop at Bass Pro Shops, was also eliminated because of low ridership, Ross said.
Macon resident Elizabeth Robinson said she takes the Houston Avenue bus route when she needs to go shopping. There is now one bus on the route for much of the day instead of the two buses some riders became accustomed with, Robinson said.
“Being down here, you hear people talking and they say it does affect them getting to work,” said the 64-year-old. “Sometimes they’re late or sometimes they might not get there at all.”
The transit authority was not the only outside agency to have some of its Macon-Bibb funding cut during last year’s summer’s contentious budget debates. The transit authority’s budget from the county for this fiscal year was $2 million.
The budget reduction means the transit system is also missing out the same amount from a matching federal transportation grant.
While the changes in bus routes have recently taken place, there are some upgrades that should improve the level of service for bus riders.
A $14,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia has been used to place lights on bus shelters in the downtown area so riders can alert drivers when they are waiting on a bus.
The transit authority will also soon have a phone app available that will give a more exact time on when a bus will arrive at a stop. Riders will also be able to use new bus cards in the coming months.
There are also series of new buses that are replacing part of the aging fleet, and a groundbreaking on the electric charging stations for two new battery-powered buses is on the horizon, Ross said.