‘Right-sizing service’: RVTD board OKs transit cuts driven by funding woes

Published 11:31 am Thursday, July 24, 2025

Route 10 from Medford to Ashland will continue; New Route 4 developed, covering an area once reached in west Medford by multiple routes

The Rogue Valley Transportation District Board of Directors voted unanimously on Wednesday to accept a staff proposal to cut services.

The cuts take effect on Sept. 2.

The board voted to eliminate Saturday service and cut all but six routes. Frequency along the remaining routes will also be reduced, and the Valley Lift service will also be reduced.

In Ashland, the Route 1X, also known as the Medford Ashland Express, and Route 17, the Ashland Circulator, will be eliminated. Route 10 from Medford to Ashland will continue, with frequency reduced from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes. The last trip from Front Street Station in Medford to Ashland will leave at 6:30 p.m., not 8 p.m.

The other lines remaining in operation in Jackson County are the 21, 24, 40 and 60. A new line, Route 4, has also been developed, covering an area once reached in west Medford by multiple routes.

RVTD Operations Manager Kelly Madding presented the rationale behind the proposal to the board, with an emphasis on the agency’s cash flow, not just its overall budget.

‘Right-sizing’ service

“By right-sizing our service delivery model, we’ve temporarily solved our cash flow problem,” Madding said.

That problem includes increased costs for operations as prices have risen exponentially in the last decade.

An RVTD analysis suggests the agency must pay over 50% more for every mile a bus travels. Healthcare and other benefits have also increased by more than 100%, according to the analysis.

Madding said RVTD is in discussions with the union and insurance carriers to lower the costs of healthcare and benefits.

In the meantime, revenue has increased by only around 4% a year, she said.

Madding clarified the current funding sources for the agency and the level of uncertainty with each.

State and federal funding issues

Nearly 40% comes from local sources, including a permanent-rate property tax as well as a special levy. The special levy expires in 2026. Voters will need to approve an extension in May. The current cash flow estimates do not assume a renewal of the special levy. While the state picks up about 30% of the costs through its Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund — known as STIF — via a 1% payroll tax, the Oregon Legislature’s failure to pass a transportation package during the last session means no new state revenue is available.

However, Gov. Tina Kotek has called for a special legislative session to be held Aug. 29, and put forward a plan that would increase the payroll tax to .2%. Even if passed, the new tax rate would not go into effect until 2026, and the funds would not be received by local transit agencies until the spring quarter, said RVTD General Manager Julie Brown.

The current cash flow estimates do not assume that the increase in STIF funding will be approved.

The remaining 35% of RVTD’s funding comes from federal sources. However, the Federal Transportation Administration has failed to reimburse grants for transportation districts in states unwilling to agree to new stipulations in federal contracts requiring cooperation with federal immigration authorities. A temporary injunction released some of the previously awarded funds to RVTD, but not all.

“We got the money they owed us from last year, but we’re not going to get this year’s money until next year,” said Brown.

Federal Transportation Administration staff cuts

Delays in federal grants are also due to cuts at the FTA, where the staff has been shrunk by 30%.

During the public hearing on Wednesday, questions were raised about the decision to cut service rather than other kinds of programs run by RVTD, such as its educational programs.

Brown explained that those are funded through restricted grants, and the money cannot be shifted to basic operational costs.

She also emphasized the extent of cuts that have already been made, both at RVTD and at Oregon Department of Transportation, describing them as “deep and across the board,” including “management, maintenance, office and planning.” Janitorial staff at RVTD buildings has also been cut.

In their discussion of the staff proposal, board members raised concerns about the impact on future ridership, asking about the way cuts would force some riders into car ownership and force others to potentially seek different employment if they could no longer reach their current workplace by transit.

Pressed by board members about the potential for “eking by” until certainty about future funding possibilities is achieved, Deb Wilbur, finance manager, emphasized that without making cuts, current operations would chew through the agency’s cash balance in a matter of months.

Cash flow a problem

In the cash flow projections presented by Madding, the beginning cash balance for the agency was $6.3 million, with a projected ending balance of $7.4 million after five years.

“We determined that for every month we did not make cuts we would spend $1.5 million additional dollars,” Wilbur said. “$1.5 million makes $6 million go away in four months.”

Even before approving cuts, board members were talking about how to rebuild service and making plans for “triaging” and determining a list of priority services to be restored as funding sources are confirmed and received.

During the public hearing, board members not only listened to testimony but conversed back and forth at length with those who stepped up to speak, answering questions and acknowledging the impact of the cuts.

‘There is pain in this plan’

“We know that there is pain in this plan, no doubt about it,” said board member Bill Mansfield. “We don’t like the pain that we’re inflicting, but I’m relying on our staff to determine the least amount of pain that can be inflicted.”

Before the meeting, RVTD also held multiple open houses, including two virtual open houses on Monday and an in-person event on July 11, to gather input from the public. Staff did alter their proposal as a result, retaining Route 21 in north Medford after hearing from many riders about their reliance on the route.

Katrina Ehrnman-Newton of Ashland was elected to the Board of Directors in May and sworn in last week. This was her first meeting. Asked how she felt about casting her first vote for service reductions, she said, “It’s a really strange feeling because I know this is going to harm people,” but that she trusted the current plan means the agency “has what it needs to be better later.”

Brown said that the current reduction in service was not the end of the story.

“I have told you that I will build it back,” Brown said. “And I will.”

Reach freelance reporter Meg Wade at meg.wade@protonmail.com. This story first appeared at Ashland.news.