Richmond City Council eyes GRTC cutbacks

The days of mostly empty GRTC Transit System buses barreling around Richmond could be numbered.

Under a proposal scheduled for public hearings beginning tomorrow, the Richmond City Council will consider eliminating or severely reducing six routes and scaling back three others to help GRTC save about $1.2 million annually.

Of the routes in question, the No. 68 Lunch Time Express has attracted the fewest riders -- an average of 12 per day in fiscal 2008-09, compared with 641 for Westhampton. Overall, GRTC has about 40,000 riders per day on its 40 routes.

GRTC has been recommending route cuts based on a study that identified inefficient routes in terms of how much of their cost is recovered through rider fares. GRTC, which needs the council's approval to eliminate routes, floated the idea of changes in summer 2008, but the request stalled in an election year.

Councilman Bruce W. Tyler introduced the latest proposal Monday. Tyler said he expects significant amendments but is content to get the discussion started.

"We're no longer in a position where we can have inefficient routes running around the city and taxpayers picking up the cost," he said. "The time has come for hard decisions."

Mayor Dwight C. Jones' administration had no comment on the proposal. Council President Kathy C. Graziano said officials with the city and GRTC face having to pick the lesser of two evils -- eliminating underused routes or making broader service reductions -- to avoid a year-end budget deficit.

"If we can't do this, then he'll have to go to another method" to cut expenses, Graziano said, referring to GRTC Chief Executive Officer John M. Lewis Jr.

The proposal is scheduled to be considered tomorrow at 4 p.m. by the council's Finance Standing Committee and Tuesday at 3 p.m. by the Land Use, Housing and Transportation Standing Committee. The full council could vote as early as Oct. 26. If approved, the changes would take effect in January.

Richmond is contributing about $11 million to GRTC this year, but Tyler said the proposed cuts probably would not allow the city's subsidy to be reduced by $1.2 million because of cuts to state and federal funding for GRTC.

"Even with these savings, we may not get away from the $11 million discussion," he said. "The thing I'm doing is driving a stake and saying $11 million and no more."

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or .