MARC cuts forthcoming? :(

[Scrabbleship]

http://tracktwentynine.blogspot.com/2008/10/ridership-higher-service-being-reduced.html

Reading this makes me wish we could vote O'Malley out this year instead of waiting two more years. It's like Maryland's been on a downward spiral since he came in and I wonder if another term of Ehrlich would have led to all this.

I'm a newbie, but bring black Glendening!

[79MetroExtraMD]

You can't really call it a local problem. Alot of agencies in the country face the same situation. Chicago almost cut half of its bus network because of budget deficits until the Illinois State Senate signed an emergency funding bill at the 11th hour. Bear in mind, the full proposal of GBBI would have had devastating effects if all of the proposals were implemented. Sometimes, the hearings can alter the proposals to what is economically viable. There are two problems I do see with the proposals. The late evening commuters who either work overtime or have extended work hours that rely upon these later buses and trains and another is the amount of commuters from places where these buses serve and the advent of the increase in ridership from the offset of gas prices and the poor economy. It does seem a bit strange to have service cuts with an increase in ridership, but as things go, everyone has to tighten their belts.

[Scrabbleship]

Maryland has to fix it somehow. This is the worst thing to possibly happen and there is a lot of other things that can be cut back such as medicaid reform, welfare reform, drug law reform (thus freeing up prisons to lower costs), and a Texas-style application of the death penalty which would save the costs of keeping prisoners in prison for life.

I wish we could get a recall election against O'Malley...the Post version of this story has some choice comments and if O'Malley seriously wants to be reelected he would do anything in his power to undo these cuts.

[Tritransit Area]

This is a crying shame.  In a time where people are flocking to transportation alternatives and leaving their cars at home...or in P&R lots, they are making these cuts.

All at a time where SEPTA is actually expanding Regional Rail and other services throughout the service area...for now.  Are we in bizarro world or something?

If Pennsylvania can get some sort of transit funding together to improve transit, other states (except maybe Illinois, because things are really messed up with public works funding over there it seems) should be able to do it as well!

Hope MARC can retain the little bit of service it runs...and I didn't know it ran into West Virgina either!

[Tristan]

Sorry, cuts are bad, especially when they hit transit, but...uh....i'd rather have the older generation taken care of, the poor and hungry fed, and the criminals in our society brought to justice...MARC is important, but most of the commuter rail crowd is not transit dependent.  I wish the budget situation was not what it is, but I don't think a recall election is going to fix the economy.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, but a recall is a bit too desperate.