A recent report from the American Public Transportation Association shows that the impacts of the recession on public transportation agencies across the country have gone from bad to worse to disastrous. Since January 1, 2009:

• 84% of public transit systems have raised fares, cut service or are considering either of those actions.
• 59% of public transit systems have already cut service or raised fares.
• More than half of all transit systems have transferred funds from capital use to operations, threatening the ability to keep systems in a state of good repair.
• 7 out of 10 transit systems are projecting budget shortfalls in their next fiscal year.
• 47% of transit systems have laid off workers or are considering doing so in the future.

Also, 3,219 transit workers were laid off in 2009, according to the Amalgamated Transit Union, and an additional 3,600 workers are likely to be laid off this year.

Without additional transit funding from Congress in the form of emergency aid or an infrastructure-focused jobs bill, transit service will continue to deteriorate, leaving millions of Americans stuck and stranded, paying higher fares for less service. Even USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood has acknowledged the severity of this crisis, saying Congressional action is needed “to keep our trains and buses operating, to keep people working, and to keep people getting to the jobs they need so badly.”

The call to save transit from riders, advocates and workers alike has reverberated throughout the country and will only get louder as more transit cuts take effect. Will the country’s transit systems be left to deteriorate when transit ridership is at an all-time high and when Americans want more transportation choices?  The millions of Americans who took 10.2 billion trips on public transportation last year certainly hope not.

Image: T4America map.