Local public transportation organizations are calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state legislature to rethink their approach to funding public bus services after the numbers from the proposed state budgets came back less than they had hoped.
A coalition of over 30 organizations recently conducted a press conference, asking Lansing to increase the proposed allocation for Local Bus Operating, a line in the state budget that specifically allocates funds to keep public bus services accessible to Michiganders, to $330 million.
Whitmer and the state Senate wrote in $315 million for LBO in their proposed budget. The House allocated $25 million less.
Megan Owens, executive director of Transportation Riders United, said she, and other coalition members, think the $330 million sum is achievable with funds that are already available in the state budget.
“We know that there are increased dollars coming into what's called the Comprehensive Transportation Fund,” Owens said.“The question is where the legislators want to allocate those dollars. We strongly believe the greatest need is this Local Bus Operating.”
Amy Bidwell is the executive director of Saginaw Transit Authority Regional Services, a public bus service that takes riders around Saginaw and has dedicated work routes to big regional employers, like Hemlock Semiconductor.
She told WCMU state funding makes up the second largest bit of funding STARS receives. If the LBO allocation passes at the House’s proposed $290 million, STARS will have to undergo a 6% budget cut.
“We'd have to go deeper and start cutting routes that we already know are serving a higher percentage of people,” Bidwell said. “And that's when it really hurts the community.”
Bidwell said riders rely on their services to get around, and increases in gas prices have caused the number of people taking STARS busses to tick up more than ever before.
“Last year alone, we took over47,000 people to work on dedicated job routes,” Bidwell said. “Those are not just workers that need to get to work, but those are employers that need their employees to be there. So, the economy really depends on STARS being able to perform successfully, and we depend on Local Bus Operating.”
Jaron Latimore, a Saginaw native, has been using STARS since high school. He rides the bus almost every day to get to work, donate plasma and go shopping.
“I take the STARS bus every day,” Latimore said. “It's good drivers, good people, and it's all around a good system. And it's accessible. It's just a great thing for the city.”
Latimore said any cuts to STARS could restrict people’s ability to get around, especially older people who may not have a car or someone to drive them.
Meanwhile, state officials have confirmed that Michigan’s budget is currently projecting a more than $1 billion gap as healthcare, gas and international conflict creates economic uncertainty in the United States.
Republicans said they will support cutting the budget down to make up for the gap, but will not dip into the state’s “rainy day” fund.
The legal deadline for the legislature to send the budget to Whitmer is July 1.
