May 2001 Public hearings will be held for 22 bus routes struggling to meet Pace s minimum productivity standards. The purpose of the hearings is to gather opinions from communities to determine the future of the routes, which are located throughout the six-county suburban region. Service reductions and route eliminations are possibilities. The meeting times and locations will be announced in the near future. The Pace Board of Directors decided on the hearings after reviewing ridership data and farebox recovery rates on the poor-performing services.
Pace has an evaluation process to ensure the agency is operating efficiently.
The 22 routes under review have all experienced trouble meeting one or more of the operating standards for more than a year. The Board took action on seven poor-performing bus routes that were the subject of public hearings during the last week in April. The decision to eliminate three routes and reduce service on four others was in response to budget constraints. Higher than expected costs for diesel fuel, natural gas, labor and health care have caused Pace to exceed its budget. The service reductions also will help Pace meet the 40 percent farebox recovery rate required by the Regional Transportation Authority.