Bracing for a possible gas tax repeal, MST may cut routes, raise its bus fares or both.

Since 2015, Monterey-Salinas Transit operations have been running smoothly. Fares have remained stable and bus services have been added. “We’re experiencing huge growth in our ridership,” MST General Manager Carl Sedoryk says. “It’s the highest it’s ever been in the last 20 years.”

But that growth could be stunted if Proposition 6 passes in November. The statewide measure would repeal SB 1, a 12-cents-per-gallon gas tax that goes toward transportation infrastructure. A slice of the $52 billion in gas tax revenue also goes to transportation services like MST, which receives $3 million annually.

While that’s only a sliver of MST’s annual $45 million budget, Sedoryk is anticipating the potential of losing that revenue: “If [SB 1 is] repealed, we’ll have to do less with less.”

That’s why MST is considering cutting lines, raising fares, or both. In total, 26 bus routes and on-call services are on the potential chopping block. Single-route passes could see a $0.50 increase, with daily and monthly passes also increasing in price. MST’s draft Emergency Service Reduction Plan lays out the possible scenarios, and also lists safe lines, which have dedicated third-party funding.

MST is holding public meetings and accepting comments on what to prioritize in case Prop. 6 passes. (The changes will only be necessary if it does.)

“We do this so no population or area is disproportionately affected,” Sedoryk says. “If we’re cutting lines, we’ll cut them [on the Peninsula] and [in Salinas and South County] – everybody will be affected equally.”

Equitable impact may be the vision, but Sedoryk notes that it’ll be low-income riders and commuters who feel the brunt; 70 percent of MST riders earn less than $20,000 annually.

Supporters of the repeal claim the tax hits California’s poor the hardest. MST chair and King City Mayor Mike LeBarre says he understands those concerns, but argues that allowing roads to fall deeper into disrepair comes at a steeper price: “Paying $1,000 for a car part that has prematurely given out because of poor roads is far more expensive than finding a couple more dollars for gas.”

On Sept. 10, MST’s board voted unanimously to officially oppose Prop. 6.

PUBLIC HEARINGS happen at 6:30pm on Mon Sept. 17 at Boys and Girls Club, 1332 La Salle Ave., Seaside; 6pm on Tues Sept. 18 at Cesar Chavez Library, 615 Williams Road, Salinas; 6pm on Wed Sept. 19 at City Hall, 599 El Camino Real, Greenfield. Public comment is also accepted by email (mst@mst.org) and phone (1-888-MST-BUS1).