2008 Woodie Awards
SJRTD cuts routes
Nika Megino
Issue date: 2/25/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The San Joaquin Regional Transit District has enforced a 180-day emergency service reduction as of Feb 13.
According to Paul Rapp, district spokesman of San Joaquin RTD, the service reduction has been put into place due to continuous attendance problems of some of its bus operators, mainly those of the SMA, intercity, and interregional routes.
The poor attendance of some of these operators caused some problems for the company, as well as those who depend on RTD for transportation. The service reduction was implemented in order to better serve its riders
"We've simply reduced service to meet the number of operators we can expect in any given day," said Rapp. "The main reason why we've done this is because previously we have been missing runs and left people waiting for buses that weren't arriving. This will allow us to meet all of our published schedules."
Thus, the service reduction, some expect, will cause negative and positive outcomes. "We're still retaining all the same bus stops and destinations, but it may require a transfer when there was not one before," said Rapp. "However, in some instances there may be direct services where there wasn't one before."
The route that has significantly changed and has affected some students of Delta College is Route 21 to and from Tracy. Previously, the service provided a direct route from Tracy to Delta. Now the route requires a transfer.
"It really puts a lot of changes," said James Briones, a student at Delta. "It made it more confusing and it takes longer to get here from Tracy because there are more transfers."
The most reduction of services occurs during the weekends. The service has been split into Saturday service and Sunday service. This was done in order to reduce only services on Sunday on particular routes with less people riding.
According to Paul Rapp, district spokesman of San Joaquin RTD, the service reduction has been put into place due to continuous attendance problems of some of its bus operators, mainly those of the SMA, intercity, and interregional routes.
The poor attendance of some of these operators caused some problems for the company, as well as those who depend on RTD for transportation. The service reduction was implemented in order to better serve its riders
"We've simply reduced service to meet the number of operators we can expect in any given day," said Rapp. "The main reason why we've done this is because previously we have been missing runs and left people waiting for buses that weren't arriving. This will allow us to meet all of our published schedules."
Thus, the service reduction, some expect, will cause negative and positive outcomes. "We're still retaining all the same bus stops and destinations, but it may require a transfer when there was not one before," said Rapp. "However, in some instances there may be direct services where there wasn't one before."
The route that has significantly changed and has affected some students of Delta College is Route 21 to and from Tracy. Previously, the service provided a direct route from Tracy to Delta. Now the route requires a transfer.
"It really puts a lot of changes," said James Briones, a student at Delta. "It made it more confusing and it takes longer to get here from Tracy because there are more transfers."
The most reduction of services occurs during the weekends. The service has been split into Saturday service and Sunday service. This was done in order to reduce only services on Sunday on particular routes with less people riding.