In order to save public transit service in the territory, Public Works officials will be looking to Vitran managers to come up with proposals to cut costs and raise revenues. On St. John, that will be especially difficult to do.
The island has had public bus service for only three years, and there is just one bus route — running from the Cruz Bay ferry dock to the V.I. National Park recreation area at Salt Pond and back. And on St. John, Vitran has been operating without a budget from the start.
St. John residents are known for their self-reliance, bus operations manager Donna Roberts said, and, for a while, Vitran had an "angel," an anonymous benefactor who donated an undisclosed sum to subsidize the operating costs. But the benefactor recently died, she said, and charitable support of public transit has dried up.
Roberts, St. John's native son senator-at-large and its island administrator agree that saving the buses is a must.
Telephones on St. Thomas and St. John started ringing last week as rumors circulated that Public Works would discontinue St. John service. "People are calling me constantly, asking what is going on," Roberts said.
Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd wrote to Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. last week asking that the service be kept in place. Island administrator Julien Harley said he called Public Works and learned of a recent meeting where the gloomy facts of life were spelled out for top officials. Territorywide, "Vitran is in the red," he said.
Harley said bus service is popular on St. John among both locals and tourists. For a dollar, visitors can get a cheap scenic tour through a portion of the national park, early morning commuters and students can get to the 6 a.m. ferry on time, and Coral Bay residents can get eight miles up the road in 20 minutes after 8 p.m. without having to hitch a ride from a sympathetic passerby.
Ironically, according to figures Roberts supplied, St. John ridership is up significantly just as the government is looking to cut back on service. The island's buses began drawing more riders after the requirement for V.I. motorists to have liability insurance took effect on Feb. 13, she said — rising from about 6,000 fares in January to 8,000 in February.
"Apparently one of the options proposed for St. John Vitran is to cut back the number of runs," Harley said, "but I'm not in favor of that." As an alternative, he said, he might support a fare increase to $2 from the current $1.
But Roberts said the fare would also have to go up for the disabled and senior citizens riding Vitran's customized Americans with Disabilities Act bus, too. "The ADA bus riders are on a fixed income and can't afford to pay $4 a trip," she said.
Bus drivers reportedly told Roberts they would be willing to forgo overtime pay for working holidays.
The prospects of more private support emerging are iffy, Roberts said. "If the people of St. John want to do that, I'm all in favor," she added.
For the time being, Harley said, Public Works officials have assured him that St. John's buses will not stop running. "They can't make that decision," he said. "The governor has to make that decision."
