CARTA passed a motion to go back to full service in late November, while also reducing service in some areas in the meantime.
“We are looking at going back to full service on Nov. 22,” Executive Director Lisa Maragnano said. “It’ll still be fare-free and it’ll still be rear-door boarding only. That way we can make sure we keep the operators separated from the passengers and the passengers have space as well.”
She said CARTA will be looking to run the downtown shuttles from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday through Friday. There will be two buses from 8-10, and then three buses from 10-6. She said on Saturday and Sunday, buses would run from 9:30 to 6:30. She said that because of low ridership numbers downtown, she advised reducing service in that area.
“The Northshore shuttle will continue to operate from 10 to 6 on Monday through Saturday. We need a vote from the board to reduce service downtown and the downtown shuttle, as well as going back to full service on the 22nd,” she told the board.
CARTA also agreed to pay for the Ray Evans Transit Center, something that would be paid in three installments.
“The total local match they’re looking to get reimbursed is $103,572,” Ms. Maragnano said. “What I asked for was for the payments be spread out over three years, so we have time to see what’s going on with COVID. We do not need to use any federal or state funds to pay this back, so it has to be CARTA-generated revenue to pay this back.”
Ms. Maragnano said she did not have a due date for the first payment to the FTA yet, but she said CARTA will hopefully know by the new year. Those payments would have to be paid by June of 2023. The first payment would be due when the agreement is finalized, the second in 2022, and the third in 2023.
Lastly, Ms. Maragnano said the federal government passed a resolution to continue funding the government until December 11. She said CARTA will most likely have to continue to operate on continuing resolutions into the foreseeable future.
“Their budget expired at the end of September, and they have not moved forward on anything,” Ms. Maragnano said. “They did move forward on the FAST Act, which is how transit gets their funding til October 2021.”
“I’m excited about that, because we at least know we’ll have the same level of funding that we had for this year. It’s not the best, but it does stabilize us a little. I wish I had more to tell you, but Washington is not moving fast on anything.”