Beginning Sunday, more than two-dozen weekday bus routes will be cut…night-time light rail and bus service will be eliminated…and weekend routes will be reduced.

 

"It's very sad and very devastating to a lot of people."

 

Barbara Stanton is with the advocacy group RiderShip for the Masses. She says RT could've avoided the cuts by consolidating departments or laying off top management. And she says the agency should hold off on projects like the Green Line - expanding light rail to Sacramento International Airport.    

 

"If you have a fiscal emergency, we believe that there should be no expansion."

 

But RT's Alane Masui says the agency has acted responsibly and is trying to deal with massive cuts in state transportation dollars and plunging sales tax receipts triggered by the recession.   

 

"We have implemented a hiring freeze, salary freeze; furloughs and we simply cannot absorb this magnitude of budget shortfall without service reductions."

 

She says they're also looking at ways to generate money.

 

"And that includes advertising at the light rail stations on beverage kiosks and implementing our park-pay-and-ride program. We are trying to do whatever we can to save service."

 

Masui says RT hopes to restore some of the eliminated services over time as the economy improves.