More than 4,000 low-income seniors or disabled Montgomery County residents unable to use public transit would lose county-subsidized taxi rides this spring, according to a memo from county staff explaining possible budget cuts recommended by Montgomery’s top elected official.
Montgomery County is facing a $401 million projected budget gap for the fiscal year that begins next July. Last month, County Executive Ike Leggett proposed reducing current spending by $23.6 million through cuts including the elimination of some bus routes, reducing the size of this winter’s police recruit class, and taking a fire truck out of service.
County Council members are expected to vote on Leggett’s cost-savings proposals next week.
County staff said in a memo to Council members that two-thirds of Call-N-Ride program participants are 70 or older and have an annual income of less than $14,000 per year.
If the council approves freezing the Call-N-Ride program from April through June, the document said program participants who can’t use public transit would have to rely on saved taxi-voucher coupons purchased during previous months to get to “more critical destinations.”
The proposal includes cuts to county bus services expected to affect about 2,000 riders a day.
The memo said county officials made decisions on which routes to cut based on ridership numbers alone and that some “lifeline” routes would be eliminated, “meaning no other service
exists within three-quarters of a mile.”
“To preserve these lifeline routes we would have to reduce service on routes that have higher ridership, impacting more riders…” the memo offered as justification.
