A-Infos (en) US, Minneapolis, DAYBREAK #6 - Doomsday! Metro Transit Cuts in the Twin Cities

Astoundingly, the Metropolitan Council, the planning agency for
the Mpls.-St. Paul metro area, announced last month that it will reduce
service on 78 bus routes and eliminate completely service on 28
routes. That's 70% of the entire bus system. Naturally, this will
necessitate more waiting and walking and more time spent
commuting for those who depend on public transit to go to work or
make it to a doctor. The effect is expected to be so drastic that
many riders will no longer be able to complete more than one
errand per bus fare, and won't be able to reach some destinations at
all anymore. People with limited mobility who can't compensate for
the lost service by biking or walking, like people in wheelchairs,
will really be fucked.

The Met Council held a series of public hearings throughout April.
At one of them in the first-ring suburb of Hopkins, a white man in
his mid thirties and a wheelchair pleaded with worried lips for the
council not to go through with the cuts. I couldn't take my eyes off
of what seemed at the time like a terribly pathetic subjugation. And
yet it was difficult to hate the representatives of the council, who in
response to each sad story, could only offer one essential reply.
With deeply concerned looks, they repeated, "Well, in light of the
budget, we can't sustain the current system."

Metro Transit, the company run by the Met Council, has a budget
with a $60 million deficit, and although he didn't cause the
problem, our doughy-faced governor Tim Pawlenty is sticking to
his campaign promise

not to raise taxes in the current legislative session. Asshole. But
not only will the routes be cut, the council is proposing to (and
more

than likely will) raise fares by 25 cents. The council is supposed to
make its final decision on what routes to cut and on the fare
increase

by mid-May, effectively reducing even our practical ability to live
our lives.

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Daybreak is an anarchist tabloid put out from Minneapolis.
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