Pierce Transit’s board has voted to restore some Saturday and Sunday service to a plan that would have eliminated all weekend routes in September.
About a half-dozen riders told the board Monday night they need weekend bus service to get to work, go to church and do their grocery shopping.
The board’s unanimous decision puts back 17,000 annual service hours on Saturdays. That’s 43 percent of the Saturday hours provided now.
It will also bring back 9,000 hours on Sundays – 29 percent of the current Sunday service hours. Some shuttle service for people with disabilities also will be restored.
The board voted last month to cut service by 34 percent starting in September – including all weekend service – as a result of the defeat of a proposed sales tax increase last year.
Since last month, Pierce Transit identified $25.7 million it will shift from its budgets over the next 10 years to pay for weekend service. Those changes include forgoing construction of a maintenance building for shuttles and vans and operating buses longer, extending their “useful life” from 14 to 16 years.
Some board members expressed concern Monday night the agency was “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” But the outcry for weekend service overrode that worry.
Steve Maynard: 253-59-8647 steve.maynard@thenewstribune.com
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