City Bus Service

It appears Georgetown is starting a new public bus service during a long-term decline in ridership across the nation.

After the 2007-2009 recession, financially strapped city bus agencies pared back service nationwide, slashing routes and frequency to save money. That drove riders away and starved bus agencies of cash needed to recover lost services. Fares account for about one-third of agencies’ operating budgets, with the rest coming from state, local and federal sources. The agencies responded by cutting service even more.WSJ

The Community Impact Newspaper has an excellent description of the new bus service for Georgetown, including costs, routes and much more.

The City Council has established performance metrics that must be met over the next three years covering ridership, on-time performance, cost and revenue. Citizens should pay attention to ensure that the metrics are being met and the goal posts are not moved, or else the service should be terminated and other alternatives should be explored such as grants for car pools and/or vouchers for Uber/Lyft.