The Greater Lynchburg Transit Company is moving forward with plans to cut service along two bus routes this summer.
Officials said the changes were necessitated by budget constraints, primarily an 11 percent drop in state funding.
Routes 1B and 7 are both slated for schedule reductions. The changes — expected to save about $71,000 — will take effect shortly after the new fiscal year begins in July.
Route 1B, which crisscrosses through downtown and midtown, will be losing all Saturday service. Its companion route, 1A, will be unaffected.
Route 7, which runs to the southern end of the city, will be downgraded from 30-minute to 60-minute service. Its buses will also stop running half an hour earlier than currently scheduled.
GLTC held a public hearing on its budget Wednesday morning. Nine people showed up and only two spoke. Both asked officials to reconsider the cuts.
“That’s my only transportation … I need it,” said Hazel West, who rides both routes 1B and 7 on a regular basis.
GLTC General Manager Mike Carroll said the bus company did not relish reducing service, but had no choice. He added the targeted routes had been chosen because they could withstand reductions without losing their service entirely.
“We did what we could to still maintain some options for our riders,” he said.
If either the federal or state government grants the local bus system any additional operating funding, the cuts will be revisited, Carroll promised.
GLTC will be holding a second budget hearing today to allow for further public comment. The hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the community room at the Lynchburg Public Library.
The new fiscal year begins July 1. GLTC plans to implement the route reductions on Monday, July 6.
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