The head of the Michigan Public Transit Association said until state leaders devise a new way to pay for public transportation, the only option for an increase in funding is through new taxes on gasoline.

Clark Harder, executive director of the MPTA, told members of the local news media Friday that public transportation agencies across the state may be forced to cut hours, modify routes and delay purchasing new vehicles if new sources of funding aren’t established.

Funding for public transportation in Michigan, he said, is at a 35-year low.

“The two main sources of revenue for our Comprehensive Transportation Fund is a portion of the (19-cent) tax on gas in Michigan and auto-related sales tax … and the auto sales tax fund has been raided by state legislators over the past 10 years to the tune of $140 million,” Harder said.

He referenced a comprehensive public transportation study that was authorized in 2008 by a group of officials appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The results of the study urged the state to proceed with a “better” option, chosen from a field of “good,” “better” and “best” proposals specific to public transportation in the state.

Harder said the recommendation included a 3-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline every year for a three-year stretch starting in 2010. The recommendation included a blueprint that would have provided a sound financial foundation for the MPTA.

“Two years later and the report is still sitting there. It’s fallen on deaf ears and nobody has picked it up,” Harder said, acknowledging that the public in general sees increasing the tax on gas as an unpopular measure. Still, he said the price of gas at a station near his house went up 10 cents over night a few weekends ago and he reported there were no protests nor was there any visible outcry.

Dan Wedge, director of the Allegan County Transportation, said 65 percent of Allegan County residents would like regional transportation, as Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, South Haven and Holland are common destinations for many of its working residents. Due to budget constraints, the 28-vehicle, reservation-service agency can’t provide transportation outside its county, however.

“Our biggest challenge is the number of service hours we can provide,” Wedge said, noting that additional revenue would allow the agency to consider operating on weekends and accommodate people whose business takes them to bigger cities outside Allegan County.

Kim O’Haver, president of St. Joseph-based Transportation Management Inc., a third-party transit service, said its Buchanan dial-a-ride service faces drawbacks similar to those in Allegan County. With only three vehicles for on-call service, most of Buchanan’s residents need the transportation to Niles.

“The use of dial-a-ride service has grown from 10,500 trips in 2007 to 11,900 on 2009, all while state funding continues to decline,” she said, adding that raising fares and cutting service isn’t an ideal situation for its clients on a fixed income.

She said better and more-stable funding from the state is necessary to help the agency from making unpopular choices in Buchanan.

Harder estimated the odds are about 25 percent that the current lame-duck legislators will push through a series of bills outlined in the 2008 plan. He is doubtful incoming House members and senators will be eager to approve a measure that will increase the tax on gas by nine cents over a three-year period.

Joining Harder at the roundtable advisory meeting, which took place at Kalamazoo Metro Transit Administration building, was a team of five other panel members: William Schomisch, executive director of the Kalamazoo Transportation Department; Rich Werner, manager of the Battle Creek Transit; Dan Wedge, director of the Allegan County Transportation Services; Kim O’Haver, president of St. Joseph-based Transportation Management Inc.; and David McLaughlin, vice president of American Seating, of Grand Rapids.

All gave testimony about the potential hardships the state’s 79 public transportation agencies will face if the current funding situation is not revised.

The MPTA did not receive any additional revenue when a 4-cent gas tax increase was applied to pumps in Michigan in 1997. Harder said transit operations in the state employ 9,200 people and contributed $1 billion to the state’s economy in 2008.

http://www.mptaonline.org/

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/10/lack_of_funding_means_bumpy_ro.html