Clayton County loses vital bus service, link to Atlanta

Reporting from Jonesboro, Ga. — The Great Recession has yet to claim J.C. Butler's warehouse job on the north side of metro Atlanta.

But now it has eradicated his means of getting there.

Butler, 57, lives in Clayton County, a majority-black, working-class suburb on Atlanta's south flank that killed off its local bus system Wednesday over concerns about a $19-million countywide budget shortfall.

The demise of the buses, which provided 2.1 million rides last year, is among the most dramatic of the scores of public transit cutbacks enacted across the U.S. in recent months as agencies adjust to plummeting government revenue.

Wednesday morning, Butler rode for the last time on the 503 bus as it snaked through the pre-dawn darkness, past cul-de-sac streets named for English kings and tropical ports of call. At each stop it took on auto repair and airport workers, community college students and janitors.

Butler slumped by a window seat, scowling.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," he said, adding, "So many people here, they're going to be sure enough messed up. We need this bus bad."

They are not alone. For ecological, economic and practical reasons, commuters nationwide remain hungry for public transit.

Since 1995, public transportation use is up 31%, more than twice the U.S. population growth rate, according to the American Public Transportation Assn., the nonprofit that represents the nation's commuter systems. Last year, Americans took 10.2 billion public transit trips.

In a survey of 151 member agencies released Thursday, the association found that about 9 in 10 of them reported flat or decreased local and state funding. Nearly 3 in 5 had already cut service or raised fares.

"This is the worst I've seen in my 31 years in public transit," said Art Guzzetti, the transportation association's vice president for policy.

In California, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will raise fares from $1.25 to $1.50 per ride in July -- with more raises possible later. The MTA is considering other measures, such as reducing hours on bus lines with lower passenger counts.

In March, the Orange County Transportation Authority reduced bus service by about 8% due to state budget cuts, decreased sales tax revenue and declining ridership.