Creative Commons/Monica's Dad

An AC Transit bus in Berkeley

AC Transit riders could see enormous service cuts come December.

The district is proposing to cut 39 of its bus lines on weekends, most of its owl service and all of its paratransit service. It would be the third service cut this year – and it would bring AC Transit to its lowest levels of bus service in at least the last 24 years, according to the district

The proposal (read it here) comes after a judge forced AC Transit to stop imposing a new contract on its bus drivers, which would have saved the agency $15 million. Now, AC Transit is looking to additional cuts to make up the difference, said Chris Peeples, who sits on the AC Transit Board of Directors.

“The only thing we can do about that is more service cuts,” said Peeples said Monday.

The bus lines that are proposed to be cut on weekends are as follows: 1R, 7, 11, 12, 14, 21, 25, 26r 31, 32,45, 49, 52, 54, 62, 65, 67, 68, 70r 71, 74, 76, 85, 86, 89h 93, 95, 98, 242, 251, 275, 332, 345, 350, 376, 386, F, NL and O. That's more than half of the weekend bus lines. 

The general manager’s memo to the board estimates that the weekend service cut would save $12.5 million over the course of the year. The impacts would be felt by 32,000 riders on Saturdays and 24,000 riders on Sundays.

The district would also cut all late-night bus service except two lines, the 800 and 801, to save $1 million. The district would lease out its paratransit buses to a private company, saving between $600,000 to $1.1 million.

Here is the district's chart about bus service levels, in platform hours, in the last 25 years:

The board will be discussing the proposed cuts on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at 1600 Franklin Street in Oakland. 

AC Transit has been looking to close a $56 million budget shortfall over the next two years. The district wanted the bus drivers union to make $15 million in concessions, but contract negotiations broke down earlier this year. The district then tried to impose a contract on its drivers. But the union fought back in court – and won – at the beginning of August. The two sides are now in arbitration.

Carli Paine, transportation director at TransForm, a nonprofit that advocates for public transit, said that money coming from state and local sales tax measures have dwindled and hurt AC Transit.

"We're at this point because were in this perfect storm of funding decimation from multiple sources," said Paine.

Claudia Hudson, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192, said the blame for the newest proposed cuts should not fall on the union.

“We didn't create this problem,” said Hudson. “AC transit employees make anywhere from $2 to $4 an hour less than every other agency.”

The proposed service cuts, scheduled to go into effect in December, would be the third round just this year. In March, bus routes were cut by 7.8 percent to save about $9 million. The AC Transit board made another 7.2 percent cut to save an estimated $11.4 million, which will go into effect in October, an AC Transit spokeswoman said. The district has also laid off staff and last year raised fares from $1.75 to $2.00.