San Bernardino County Supervisors will, this morning in their 10am meeting, review the fiscal year 2009/2010 budget for the Mountain Area Regional Transit Authority, or MARTA, which is overseen through a joint powers agreement established in 1993 between the County and the City of Big Bear Lake. The proposed MARTA budget totals just over $2.5 million for public transit services to the communities of Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs and Big Bear; this operating budget is approximately 5% less than last year. The $2.5 million is expected to be funded through Local Transportation Funds, Federal Transportation Act Funds, passenger fares (estimated to be roughly $285,000), Measure I Funds, and other revenue sources. According to Liz Harris, a Big Bear Lake City Council member who serves on the MARTA Board, it was decided at MARTA’s April 20 meeting that additional grant funding would be pursued by staff, under the direction of MARTA’s General Manager Kathy Hawksford (who, for her part, said in March that one of the transit authority’s goals is to remain fiscally sound).
For more on MARTA, you can read our story posted March 26, or visit the MARTA website.