PORT ANGELES — Clallam Transit cut several low-ridership bus trips Monday to save costs amid a $400,000 budget gap.

The cuts, which take effect in April, will impact the Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks areas.

Clallam Transit’s Finance and Administration Committee will revisit the service changes later this month and possibly make a modification.

General Manager Terry Weed said Clallam Transit has been drawing on reserves to balance its budget for three or four years.

“The time is running out on how much longer we can continue to do that,” Weed said.

Transit’s governing board, which is made up of elected county and city officials, directed staff to propose service reductions to offset this year’s $400,000 deficit.

Weed said other mitigation efforts will close the rest of the gap.

“The goal is to make Clallam Transit sustainable from a budgetary point of view over time,” Weed said.

“We need to address this now to avoid a very serious problem a couple of years down the road.”

Transit officials said the cuts approved Monday will save $187,861 per year.

Eliminated trips

The eliminated trips are:

■ The 5:05 a.m. No. 16 Forks-Clallam Bay on weekdays.

■ The 6:40 a.m. No. 17 Forks shuttle on weekdays.

■ The 11:05 a.m. No. 15 Forks-LaPush on weekdays.

■ The 6:25 a.m. No. 20 Port Angeles College Plaza weekday trip.

■ The 6:25 a.m. No. 24 Port Angeles Cherry Hill weekday trip.

■ The first Saturday morning trips for Port Angeles routes Nos. 20, 22, 24 and 26.

■ The No. 40 Sequim shuttle and No. 52 Diamond Point bus on Saturdays only.

Changes have been made to other routes.

■ The Saturday dial-a-ride service will be expanded to include areas affected by the elimination of the No. 40.

■ The No. 40 Sequim shuttle on weekdays will run but be modified.

■ The first No. 10 Port Angeles-Joyce bus will start at the Lyre River on weekdays.

■ The last No. 10 trip will end at the Clallam Transit garage on weekdays.

■ The present 9 p.m. No. 10 trip will begin at 8:05 p.m. on weekdays.

■ The dial-a-ride will be reduced by one hour Monday through Saturday.

The eliminated trips account for 5.8 percent of Clallam Transit’s overall service and 61,838 miles per year.

“We acknowledge that it does affect people,” Clallam Transit Operations Manager Clint Wetzel said.

“We’re trying to minimize the effect on the majority of our ridership.”

Six public forums were held on the proposal last month. Two were held in Forks with two in Port Angeles and two in Sequim.

Lora Malakoff, one of three public speakers in Monday’s hearing, said the morning Clallam Bay trip is vital for educational and employment opportunities.

‘Cutting off a community’

“You’re cutting of an entire community,” she said.

Malakoff said Clallam Transit should market the route — or charge double fare — to offset low ridership.

Wetzel said the early morning No. 16 bus gets two riders per day.

“We need bodies on buses,” board chairman Bryon Monohon said.

“We cannot run empty buses.”

Sue Liedtke said riders on the 6:40 a.m. Forks shuttle depend on that particular trip to make connections to Port Angeles and beyond.

Transit officials said they would consider replacing the cut to the 6:40 a.m. Forks shuttle with a cut to the 9:50 a.m. Forks shuttle.

All board members expressed some trepidation over the cuts. Most sided with the staff recommendation for the financial stainability of the organization.

Must do something

“If we don’t do something, we are neglecting our responsibility to keeping the entire organization viable,” board member Laura Dubois said.

Mike Doherty, the only board member to vote against the service cuts, said he wanted to send a message that Transit should consider administrative cuts and find efficiencies, such as business partnerships with the Makah and Quileute tribes to provide public transportation on the West End, before cutting service.

Max Mania, a Clallam Transit board member and a regular bus rider, said of the cuts: “This is taking a scalpel to something with the hopes of avoiding a hatchet later.”

“I guarantee you, if we didn’t make these changes and ran down the reserves, barring some tremendous transformation in our economy, we would be having this meeting in a year or two with 10 or 20 times the people because we would be taking about cutting major routes — major, major cuts of routes with high ridership,” Mania said.

“I would hate to have to do even more cuts later.”

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.