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RICHLAND Tom Polson says he can't figure out the recent transit service changes that have resulted in route cuts, re-duced services and, in some cases, higher fares.
Ben Franklin Transit plans to cut bus services on Veterans Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve Day, New Year's Eve Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Presidents Day.
It also plans to charge a $1.25 premium -- on top of the usual fare of $1.25 -- for Dial-A-Ride customers who live beyond three-fourths of a mile from a transit bus stop to meet a revenue shortfall.
But Polson, of Richland, is critical of the decisions, which will be the subject of public hearings this week.
If sales tax revenue is down and Ben Franklin Transit doesn't have enough money to operate those services, why is it spending millions to help build a new office facility, Polson asked in a letter to the Herald.
BFT got about $6 million federal grants and stimulus money, the bulk of which needs to be matched with local money, he said. The matching money came from the transit system's reserve fund.
"This is money that could have been used and should have been used to keep service 'as is' until the recession passed," Polson wrote.
Reserve funds are the budgetary surplus that remains after taking care of operations, said Tim Fredrickson, general manager of BFT. It comes from passenger fares, sales tax, advertising revenue and interest income, and over the years that money has been used for operating as well as capital expenditures such as buying new buses and vans, he said.
The reserve fund had $5.5 million at the end of 2008. About $1.5 million was used from January through June on transit operations, and about $838,000 was used for buying vans for Dial-A-Ride and Vanpool, said Fredrickson.
About $1.5 million from that fund will be used to pay for new construction and remodeling of the transit headquarters.
About $600,000 from the fund, part of which is expected to come from future revenues, also will be used along with federal money to buy nine buses.
"We won't have much reserve left after that," Fredrickson said.
Earlier in this decade, the reserve fund helped BFT limit service cuts to 15 percent despite losing 45 percent of its funding, he said. Now part of the fund is being used to help transit expand and modernize its home base, Fredrickson said.
"The building project has been part of our capital program for 10 years. We've been able to accomplish some of the project in phases," he said, adding the federal stimulus money is helping expedite the project.
Fredrickson said the project will help BFT meet commuter demands after the ongoing economic downturn is reversed, he said.
BFT also plans to use about $280,000 from the stimulus money for operating costs and to use a portion of other federal money that typically has been used for capital improvements for preventive maintenance and other improvements up to about $1.16 million.
Both will make sure BFT is not forced to cut services more in the near future, said Kathy McMullen, transit's manager of service development.
A public hearing on both proposals will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Three Rivers Transit Center, 7109 W. Okanogan Place, Kennewick.
Three other public hearings on the proposed cuts and the Dial-A-Ride fare increase are set for 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday, also at Three Rivers Transit Center.
-- Pratik Joshi: 509-582-1541; pjoshi@tricityherald.com.
