Marin Transit riders make pleas as board signals cuts to service
Local Marin Transit riders are fighting proposed changes to Tiburon Peninsula bus service, with the defense of Route 219 drawing more than three times as many public comments as any other route change countywide.
But the agency appears on track to reduce service intervals and eliminate hillside-neighborhood runs, among changes to other routes countywide, after board members didn’t seek any adjustments to the latest version of the proposal at its March 6 hearing. A formal vote is expected April 3.
Residents say the 219 shuttle provides “the remaining critical link” in their commute to work in San Francisco and that changes will force them into their cars, further congesting Tiburon Boulevard and Highway 101, especially as Golden Gate Transit’s direct Route 8 bus service between Tiburon and the Financial District remains suspended.
“The Route 219F enables our family to get to the Tiburon ferry to commute into S.F.,” one rider wrote to the transit agency, referring to the designated 219F service timed with the Golden Gate Ferry. In addition to the Route 8 suspension, “recently, many of the Route 219 runs eliminated the stop near the Seminary Drive overpass and thus made it impossible to use public transportation to get to the Marin Airporter. Each removal/curtailment of service makes it harder to use public transportation in Tiburon.”
Citing low ridership and a nationwide driver shortage, the transit agency in February announced a host of planned service changes impacting 12 of its 24 fixed routes, including the elimination of four routes. Officials say the moves are not related to agency finances. If approved, they would take effect June 11.
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