By Dan Richman
Staff Reporter
Island Transit has restored itself to solvency and reinstated most of the 20 percent of services it cut last year because of budget shortfalls, interim director Ken Graska told a group of county officials Wednesday.
Whether IT will remain “fare free” — part of its official slogan — remains to be seen.
“We are very solvent at this point,” Graska told the Island County Council of Governments at that group’s August meeting. “We have restored service to the vast majority of customers affected by reductions.”
Island Transit spent 6 percent below its budgeted expenditures so far this year, Graska said in his summary of the organization’s status. It paid back the $850,000 in notes that it needed to get through 2014, when it was wracked by cuts in staffing and operations. Financial reserves will be over $2 million this year, he said.
An attempt this year to raise revenue by selling ad space on Island County buses failed when no vendor responded with bids, Graska acknowledged.
“Three national vendors said the market here isn’t big enough to be worthwhile,” he said. The organization did sell off 31 surplus vehicles, raising $80,000.
State and federal funding will help Island Transit replace its fleet over the next five years, he said.
The state Department of Transportation’s offer to conduct a fare study is an “attempt to establish what an appropriate fare structure might be,” Graska said. “The fare issue is still wide open.”
The Board of Island County Commissioners will be charged with deciding whether to impose fares.
Commissioner Helen Price Johnson at the meeting said she fears imposing fares might cause ridership to drop, perhaps by as much as 30 percent, though that effect may be only temporary.
Johnson reported that Washington State Ferry vehicle fares will increase by 2.5 percent in October and then again in May 2016. Conversations began with WSF about how to improve Ferry Dock Road in Clinton and how to best increase handicapped pick-up and drop-off at the Clinton ferry landing.
A $120,000 state grant will improve bicycle and pedestrian conditions between the ferry landing and Deer Lake Road, the group was told.
Community outreach will help determine more precisely what improvements will be made. They could consist of widening sidewalks or adding bike lanes.
The council consists of representatives from the municipalities of Coupeville, Langley and Oak Harbor; the ports of Coupeville and South Whidbey; and the Board of Island County Commissioners.
It meets in the commissioners’ hearing room, 1 N.E. 6th Street, Coupeville. Meetings are open to the public.
