A series of service cuts begin Sunday ( August 27th) affecting passengers of the largest regional transit system in western Massachusetts.
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority is eliminating or reducing service on 22 bus routes to close a $1.7 million budget gap.
The changes start first in the greater Springfield area followed by Northampton and Amherst on September 3rd.
Eric Baur, an organizer with Jobs with Justice, said low- income people will be impacted the most.
" The bus routes are going to affect 1,200 riders per day and a half-million riders per year," Baur said at July 19th meeting of the PVTA Advisory Board where the service cuts were approved.
PVTA officials blame a cut in state aid and rising labor, health care, and fuel costs for the budget squeeze.
