CT: Greater Bridgeport Transit warns of 30% service cuts to bus service due to $7.5M budget shortfall

From heart health to matters of the heart, Glen Owens relies on Greater Bridgeport Transit.

"I go to my doctors'. ... I got a heart doctor. A kidney doctor," Owens explained last week from the bench at the Broad and John streets bus stop downtown.

Not to mention riding GBT to visit "my girl."

A short distance up John Street, housekeeper Renee Blakes exited a bus, another workday done. She has ridden GBT for about a decade to get to and from her job at a local health care facility.

"A lot of people need it. A lot of people don't have cars," Blakes explained. "High school kids — they catch the bus. My son is one of them."

Around the corner on State Street, Fabio Castro and his 3-year-old daughter stepped off a bus.

"We depend on it," he said.

Castro had just picked his little girl up from St. Ann Academy, the pre-K through eighth grade school in the Black Rock neighborhood, over two miles away from the family's downtown home. He noted he once hired an independent driver online through Uber, and the two daily trips to and from St. Ann's cost $30 versus a couple of bucks' fare.

Those are exactly the types of anecdotes GBT General Manager Steven DeMichele is urging riders share with Connecticut lawmakers as the transportation provider lobbies them to cover a $7.5 million budget shortfall to avoid a threatened 30% cut to services.

GBT over the last few weeks has been alerting its users to the issue and offering ways to get in touch with the necessary state officials. The organization has also hosted some public hearings locally to spread the word on the situation and gather testimony. For more information, visit https://gogbt.com/.

"We provide affordable, reliable, frankly essential mobility services to not only the City of Bridgeport, but the greater region," DeMichele emphasized. "They have really good stories to share about how they're using the service, how it impacts their day-to-day."

Normally the bulk of GBT's funding comes from three sources: the state, city and fares. For the new fiscal year beginning July 1, the core bus services budget is $32.3 million, with state and local subsidies projected at $21.6 million and $118,000, respectively, plus an anticipated $4.1 million in revenues.

For the last few years federal COVID-19 pandemic aid also helped keep things running given bus usage dropped off during the 2020 global health crisis. Come July, most of that federal relief will be used up, DeMichele explained, while ridership remains "shy" of where it stood pre-COVID and expenses have increased.

And thus, a $6.5 million shortfall. GBT is also seeking an additional $1 million from the state to keep a Trumbull-based ride-sharing pilot program from sunsetting. Launched in 2024, DeMichele said the Trumbull initiative has experienced "really steady growth."

He said he was not yet prepared to share what routes or times could be targeted should Connecticut lawmakers not come through, but claimed GBT is already "very lean, very efficient."

"There's not a bunch of 'low-hanging fruit,' if you will, in terms of trips that can be reduced and nobody's going to notice," DeMichele warned.

State Rep. Christopher Rosario, D- Bridgeport, is chairman of the legislative subcommittee on transportation appropriations. Among recommendations that group approved late last week was the full $7.5 million for GBT.

While Rosario could not yet guarantee it will be embraced by the full General Assembly and Gov. Ned Lamont, he said "there's a good chance" given bus service is an issue impacting several communities.

"It's not just Bridgeport," he said. "You've got legislators from across the region on a bipartisan basis."

Rob Blanchard, Lamont's communications director, said the administration is well aware of GBT's ask and that other such services are similarly looking for help replacing pandemic-era monies. Blanchard said any extra funds added to the state budget must comply with the spending cap and need to keep the transportation fund "in balance."

One rider DeMichele likely cannot count on for positive testimony is Carlos Portal.

Waiting at the John and Broad streets stop downtown, Portal, who travels by bus around three times per week, pulled out a flier he was handed on the budget concerns and started listing issues he has with GBT. He said he has complained so often he must be well-known in the customer service office.

"They're early or late," Portal said. "If they had really good service, I'd say, 'Don't cut.' They can't even handle the service they're doing."

And yet Portal acknowledged the importance of what GBT offers even begrudging passengers like himself when he wondered aloud if his criticism could eventually get him banned. Since he has poor eyesight and cannot drive, Portal relies on public transportation.

"I don't want to be blackballed," he said.

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