Service Cuts Frustrate Riders Reduced service levels and frequent delays cause discontent

She said that she lives in a low-income apartment in the City of Ithaca’s West End and can’t afford a car. While she’s mostly retired, Esse said that she needs to work at least part-time in order to meet her cost of living.

“I’m too old to walk in the dark, and I’m not rich enough to take an Uber,” Esse said.

The administration at TCAT is trying to project hope as service restorations appear possible. TCAT General Manager Scot Vanderpool said that “We are doing everything we can as an organization to try to get to a better place.”

Drivers, mechanics and other workers at TCAT ratified a new labor contract last week and while many members of the bargaining unit had mixed feelings about it, Vanderpool said that it is going to be a key part of making the company a competitive place to work and improve the weakened staffing numbers.

TCAT has seen its driver numbers hover around the mid-50s and lower 60s for over a year now. In 2019, TCAT had over 80 drivers running routes. The newly ratified labor contract creates opportunities for raises among the staff at TCAT. Previously, a driver who worked at TCAT for 20 years would earn the same wage of $23.67 an hour as a driver that had been behind the wheel for two years.

The limiting factor to adding new bus lines and increasing frequency is staff, Vanderpool explained. The cost of restoring service levels, even if riders are slow to return, will be supported by state funding through the New York State Operating Assistance.

TCAT has also seen its underwriters, which include Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca and Cornell University, agree to increase their contributions to the bus company by 5 percent after Cornell University initially declined an 8 percent increase. Under the 5 percent increase, the three underwriters will be contributing $2,983,722 in equal parts to TCAT’s $19.2 million budget. The funds will go towards compensating TCAT’s workers as well as the other rapidly increasing costs that the bus company is grappling with.

Currently, the goal for TCAT is to have 70 drivers on staff by Fall 2023, Vanderpool said.

TCAT delays and service cuts have had an acute impact on the Cornell University community, which claims the most heavily ridden bus routes. Vanderpool said that restoring routes that service Cornell’s campus is among TCAT’s priorities as it works to rebuild its service levels. TCAT’s Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 service cuts concentrated on removing service from parking-scarce Cornell, Vanderpool said, to maintain county-wide service and avoid leaving residents in rural towns like Danby or Newfield “with no options to get where they need to go.”