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If you're wondering how budget cuts go from abstract accounting to real life, read on: Below is the list of local Regional Transit bus routes that will cease to operate in June.

As part of its response to a budget crisis, Regional Transit laid off 37 employees Monday. An additional 14 employees accepted retirement incentives instead of layoffs, according to RT spokeswoman Alane Masui.

Monday's layoffs are expected to be followed by further job cuts; transit system officials plan to lay off about 200 employees in the coming months, Masui said. All told, RT is carrying out $11.7 million in cuts.

RT has not laid off employees since the early 1980s, Masui said, noting that the current and upcoming layoffs are "unfortunate" and "sad."

But it's not just jobs. Services will also be cut, which means fewer buses and slower light rail pickups. And nearly four dozen different RT bus lines will cease to operate on June 20.

Put simply: There will be a lot fewer buses running, and after the budget cuts are administered fully, the transit agency will no longer offer light rail and bus trips after 9 p.m. The cuts after 9 p.m. apply to trips that begin after 9 p.m., Masui clarified. Some trips that start before 9 p.m. will still finish their routes after 9 p.m.

RT will stop the following weekday bus routes: 4, 8, 9, 10, 18, 20, 36, 50E, 63, 73, 83, 89, 94, 95, 100, 101, 102, 104, 106, 107, 141, 142, 200, 201, 210, 226, 251, 261

The following Saturday bus routes will be cut: 5, 6, 8, 13, 14, 16, 24, 28, 54, 61, 65, 74, 143

RT is slashing the following Sunday bus routes: 8, 13, 14, 22

Photos by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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A Yoni

edited on April 20, 2010 | 8:14 AM

Sad, indeed, and not just for the employees losing their jobs. There are residents that do not own vehicles that rely soley on RT and will now have to make other arrangements, which might not be so easy for them and if they can't do it, they too risk losing their jobs. With no vehicle, a lot of people also rely on RT to get their children to and from school/daycare or other activities and again, that will all have to be reconsidered for many families. Then there's the "green" side of things; many people ride RT to help save the environment but will have to drive now, which will also mean more congestion on the roadways during commute hours. The effects will ripple down in many other areas as well.

What I have to question though is; if there were to be full-time employees checking for tickets and writing citations for those who don't pay to ride, could RT be saved? I've ridden RT a lot. I commuted daily on it for months and months for school, work, and other events around the downtown area to save on parking fees. I rode it morning and night, weekend and weekday and in all that time, there was only ONCE that anyone was checking for payment and writing citations. We have Code Enforcement Officers that write parking tickets, tow vehicles, take non-criminal/non-emergency reports to free up the Police Officers, why couldn't they be assigned to RT as well? Around the office I worked at, it was a joke, no one ever paid and they had no problems admitting it because they knew they'd never get caught. If you paid just 1 person a wage of say $15 an hour for an 8 hour day = $120.00 a day. A ticket for non-payment is $56 - $250. Even at the lowest rate, all they need to do is fine 3 riders without payment and they've already made a profit of $48 a day, which adds up to $17, 520.00 a year (I know there needs to be a little more added in for employee benefits but you get the point); and I KNOW they could find 3 riders a day easy.

(edited for spelling)

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Dale Kooyman

April 20, 2010 | 1:59 PM

You make some good points but please clarify. When you relate your experience "around your office" and "no one ever paid" and "never got caught" was that non-payment related to parking violations or RT rider tickets? Thanks.

It was interesting that the RT presenter gave kudos to Steve Cohn and emphasized his insisting that the McKinley bus route not be discontinued and found ways to avoid that. East Sacramentans should be thankful to him for that.

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A Yoni

April 20, 2010 | 7:00 PM

It was related to buying RT passes. I worked in a downtown office and many of us rode RT daily. Our employer provided us with $50 a month to buy RT passes or they paid a certain portion of our parking but, because there was never anyone on RT checking to make sure people actually bought tickets to ride, my co-workers never did. They had no problems openly talking about how they never paid to ride RT and they never got citations because no one was ever checking. Just my office alone, each week, I'd bet that RT lost thousands of dollars because so many people were riding but not paying. Of course, whether RT checks to see that you paid or not, it's very unethical to do that, but when no one is ever checking, they had to know that a lot of people would cheat them. RT basically became an "honor system" and obviously, there aren't as many honorable people these days.

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Paul Cox

April 20, 2010 | 1:18 PM

What?!?! RT has to cut routes after raising tickets to ridiculous prices with no increase in quality, timeliness, or safety... Surely not! How could such misfortune have befallen them? I certainly didn't see this coming!

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Keith Sharward

edited on April 20, 2010 | 5:04 PM

Well done, Kathleen.

I contributed an article a few weeks ago that went into detail on how RT's service cuts affect Natomas in particular and how our city councilperson misrepresented those impacts: http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/24115

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Bill Burgua

April 20, 2010 | 8:28 PM

RoseMary Covington, Assistant General Manager of Transit System Development at Regional Transit presented at the Neighborhood Advisory Group last night. She gave an excellent overview of how RT systematically went about deciding which routes would be eliminated and which would have time between buses increased. Just as important she talked about how RT is systematically determining how service will be increased as the economy recovers. Sadly she stated that she went to work for RT to work on expanding the service and has ended up working on reductions.

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Joe Gamble

April 21, 2010 | 4:25 AM

Very on point article, Kathleen.

From what I gather, people will still be able to get a bus or train with one caveat- That train or bus route will NOT leave the Downtown area after 9PM. The bus and train still need to come back Downtown (29h & N for bus passengers) and the North Sacramento yard (The Swanston Station for light rail passengers).

It's horrible, and I feel terrible for what this means for so many people. I'm turning in my train keys June 19th due to troubled times and a pink slip. My hope is that Sacramento RT reorganizes and comes back strong with a focus on serving the people...after all, in the 70's that is what RT was created to do.

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