Posted inLatest News

Reimagine Metro hits speed bump due to aging buses, but expansion plans on tap for fall, CEO says

The major service changes to Santa Cruz Metro are still doable, said CEO Corey Aldridge, even if few of the transit agency’s new hydrogen buses are road-ready. Additional maintenance staff and shifts will help turnaround on the current aging fleet’s repairs, and Metro is confident it can complete its service changes by September.

Posted inOpinion from Community Voices

Santa Cruz Metro and I owe Lookout readers and Metro riders an apology

The exciting, new transportation services planned by Santa Cruz Metro are not happening, at least not yet, writes Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin. The plans included 15-minute service time on major routes, bus-priority traffic signals and more. But the poor state of the current fleet makes the timeline impossible until at least summer, when 53 hydrogen-fueled buses Metro purchased in September 2023 are due to arrive. That is reduced from the planned 57, due to costs. Metro apologized for the delay at a December meeting of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission meeting, but Rotkin thinks the board, of which he is a member, should have seen this problem coming and asked better questions.

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