$484.8-Million Budget Proposed for RTD

A $484.8-million operating budget for the Southern California Rapid Transit District that would eliminate 451 jobs and remove 210 buses from service was proposed Thursday by General Manager John A. Dyer.

In submitting his “belt-tightening” spending plan, Dyer told RTD board members that no more than 100 workers would be laid off and service cuts would be kept to a minimum under his budget proposal for the 1986 fiscal year.

But Dyer warned that the RTD--faced with the loss of $43 million in local subsidy funds and a possible cut in federal transit aid--was entering an austere period that “will be painful for policy makers, employees and the riding public.”

The budget proposal, which represents a 5.6% increase from this year’s estimated expenditures, would remove 210 buses from the active fleet of 2,600.

Dyer said an expected drop in the 1.7 million daily boardings when a planned fare increase goes into effect in July, will mean a need for fewer buses. RTD officials said they expect ridership to decline from 11% to 17% when the current 50-cent fare is increased to 85 cents.

“Basically, we are going to be taking buses from selected lines where ridership will drop when fares go up,” said RTD spokesman Marc Littman, who added that service would be cut 2.4%.

“We are not canceling routes . . . and in most cases, the schedule changes will result in less than three or four minutes difference in waiting time for buses,” Littman said.

However, in his budget message, Dyer noted that the RTD could be in “a serious dilemma” if ridership soars despite the fare hikes. And he said cuts in the RTD’s $51 million in federal operating assistance--which is caught up in congressional budget debate--could trigger more fare hikes or service cuts this fall.

“We’ve gone through to the flesh this time,” said Lambertus H. Becker, the director of RTD’s Office of Management and Budget. “I guess we’ll go down through the bone in the next level (of cuts).”

Becker noted that the elimination of 451 employee positions--a 5% drop from current staffing levels--could be accomplished through a hiring freeze that already has left a number of jobs vacant. And he said layoffs would be “minimal.”

In presenting his operating budget, Dyer also gave board members a $242.3-million capital spending plan. That proposal includes $137.6 million for the Metro Rail subway, whose future remains uncertain as Congress debates whether to restore funds that the Reagan Administration had cut from the subway project.

The RTD board is expected to vote on both budget proposals next month.