While I haven’t run a transit system, I’ve spent enough time in the background that I know its a tough job. Talk about customers–funding agencies, riders, employees, unions, community, press. Everyone knows how you should run your business. Sounds like the best job in the world to me.
These days, system operators are facing a previously unthinkable irony. Ridership (exclusive of dips due to job losses) has risen in record numbers over the past several years. And funding (exclusive of capital infusions from the stimulus package) is in decline. So in the face of greater demand, systems are cutting back. Huh?
While mega agencies like the MTA in New York and the MBTA in Boston announce huge cuts that will alter their systems–and the routines and in some cases the very lives of their riders–some smaller transit systems are taking advantage of their size and flexibility to pursue new funding sources and apply creativity to their system planning.
I had an opportunity to review some material for one such system in Bridgeport, Connecticut this week, Greater Bridgeport Transit. I’ve worked on and off with them for years, promoting new services, supporting marketing efforts, serving on advisory committees. This system has won some serious awards from the American Public Transportation Association over the years and is well regarded in the industry. They’re facing some tough budget times like everyone else, but they’ve kicked into overdrive in seeking varied sources of funding to service their riders, from private sector investment to Job Access Reverse Commute money. They reshaped their fares to make them semi-understandable and efficient to their riders. Their bus operators are some of the best in the country. Its a system that’s working.
Facing challenges and finding solutions is about all we can ask for in a challenging job. Transportation in general, and transit in particular, is a good place to be at any time, and particularly important today as people increasingly depend on public transportation to make their lives work.
