Green Mountain Transit announced a draft plan to reduce services on Wednesday after finding a $3 million gap between expected revenues and expenses for fiscal year 2026.
The transport operator plans to implement the planned cuts in three phases starting in November, making significant changes to commuter routes as well as weekend and evening services.
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Clayton Clark, general manager of Green Mountain Transit, said the dwindling COVID relief funds are having a significant impact on the company’s financial situation.
“At some point in 2025, we will have exhausted these COVID relief funds,” Clark said. “That means that like the other transit agencies in the country, we will have to go through a process of either downsizing, developing new funding methods, or a combination of both.”
Clark said the plan was born out of necessity, not a desire to cut benefits.
“And when I say, ‘Hey, you know, these routes carry fewer people than some of our other routes, and so we’re thinking about potentially eliminating them.’ For the people who use this service, that’s critical to their daily lives.”
Green Mountain Transit will hold five public hearings on this matter over the next two months.
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