Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501090041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Options that will be presented to Roanoke City Council on Monday include creating a special taxing district, increasing the subsidy from the general fund or eliminating bus service.
Buses, it seems, may come under scrutiny by the new Congress.
``On the congressional level, there are oodles of proposals to reduce and or eliminate operating assistance,'' said Stephen Mancuso, general manager of the city's bus system.
To prepare for any cutbacks, he has come up with options for council, which serves as Valley Metro's board of directors.
``We need to begin today looking at alternative funding sources as a contingency,'' Mancuso said Friday. ``Who knows what Congress is going to do?''
Public transit authorities are operated as a quasi-public service, with subsidies keeping fares low. Roanoke's Valley Metro, which has a $3.7million budget, got $955,000 this year from the federal government. All that money went into operating the system.
``There are ominous signs, both from the administration and the congressional leadership,'' said Chip Bishop of the American Public Transit Association, a national trade group of transit authorities. ``Most vulnerable is the operating grants. Smaller cities like Roanoke rely on them much more substantially.''
If federal subsidies are lost, transit authorities have three options: make them up at the state and local levels, increase fares or reduce service and routes. Each ride on Valley Metro costs $3 although riders pay only $1.25. Federal, state and city subsidies help make up the rest.
One possibility is creating a transportation district and getting the General Assembly to bestow taxing power that would allow Roanoke to impose a 2 percent motor-fuel tax. Two transportation districts in Northern Virginia are allowed to tax gas now, with the money earmarked for transit use. The districts usually are regional, although Mancuso said such a district could be set up for only Roanoke. ``But that's not what the [state] code intends,'' he said.
``If you're going to keep [bus service], you've got to pay for it,'' Mancuso said. ``Another option is to do away with the transit system.''
Every presidential administration for at least the past 18 years has recommended cutting subsidies, but Congress always has lessened the proposed reduction or restored the funding, Mancuso said.
``It appears we now have the Congress inclined to take them up on it,'' he said.
Some proposals would cut all operating assistance and provide money only for capital outlays, like buying buses and other assets. Finding the money to run the buses would be a local job.
``If it all [the federal subsidy] went away in one fell swoop, we would have to find an alternative source or there would be very serious consequences for our continued operation,'' Mancuso said,
Virginia kicks in $90million a year statewide in subsidies. Leo Bevon, director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, said state subsidies are not affected by Gov. George Allen's proposed budget.
But on the federal level, he said, ``I thinks there is reason for everybody to be concerned.''
Roanoke provided $408,000 to Valley Metro this fiscal year, and the state chipped in $717,000. Passenger fares covered $1.3 million. Other subsidies, and revenues from advertising and other sources, round out the budget.
``If it were not for public assistance,'' Bishop said, ``certainly the ride would be so high as to be out of the reach of the average person.''
Subsidies allow the government to achieve important social, economic and environmental goals, the Public Transit Association argues.
Most riders use buses to go to work, so people who cannot afford cars - some who could qualify for welfare - have a way to reach their jobs, Bishop said. Mass transit also keeps cars off the road, reducing traffic and improving air quality. Buses also provide mobility to those too young and too old to drive, he said.
by CNB