Courtesy photo / Volusia County. A Votran bus heads west on Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach in this photo. The county came up with a "flex" schedule to lessen the blow of some routes eliminated for greater New Smyrna Beach resulting from budget cuts.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Cuts in public bus transit for Southeast Volusia are not as bad as initially feared.
The Volusia County Council, looking for ways to cut next year’s budget, decided that eliminating Votran public transit service on some routes in New Smyrna Beach was going too far. Instead, the County Council opted for a scaled down flex service.
Taking action at its Thursday meeting in DeLand, the County Council by consensus directed County Manager Jim Dinneen to include funding for a flex service to serve Southeast Volusia routes 42, 43, and 44.
The bus service reductions were proposed as part of county government’s overall goal to reduce the 2010-11 fiscal year budget by approximately $23 million. Staff proposed Votran service eliminations included trolley and holiday service and Southeast Volusia routes 42, 43, and 44.
“We wanted to offer a solution that would get people to their destination, but at the same time we still need to find savings,” Votran General Manager Ken Fischer said. “The flex alternative is a modified paratransit service that will cover the same geographic area of the existing routes. This is something new for all of us. We will hold an orientation to explain how passengers will use the new service.”
Fischer presented alternative service options for Southeast Volusia, which included reduced frequency and reduced service area. The options reflect savings between $109,000 to $116,000. Elimination of the
Southeast Volusia routes would save $266,673.
Fischer also appeared last month before the New Smyrna Beach City Commission, explaining the cuts, but Commissioners Lynne Plaskett and Jim Hathaway, in particular, were adamant that everying be done to secure rides for those who are regular riders.
County council members also were reluctant to support any cut to holiday or trolley service. County council directed Votran staff to review reduced service options in place of total elimination of the
holiday service. Votran continues to work with local business leaders and local municipalities to explore funding opportunities for seasonal trolley which operates on the beachside of Daytona Beach from January through Labor Day. Trolley service had been on the list of service
reductions because it’s somewhat duplicative of the fixed route buses Votran operations year-round.
At a June meeting, the county council decided to include funding for routes 24 (Pierson/DeLand) and 200 (to Orlando from the Orange City park and ride lot) in the budget the county manager will recommend to the county council for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Although the county council expressed unanimous desire to continue routes 24 and 200, the decision won’t be final until the county council officially adopts the budget in September.
“The members of the county council felt that these routes were very important and needed to be added back into our budget,” CountyCouncil Chair Frank Bruno said. “The Route 200 is an important feeder to
the Sun Rail which will come online in 2013. The county council and staff have worked diligently to make enough cuts across the board that we are in the position to add a few critical services back into the budget.”
The changes are subject to final approval in September by the Volusia County Council as part of the adoption of the overall county budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1.