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PVTA Officials Push For More Money To Avoid Service Cuts

A Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus makes a stop at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
File Photo

Representatives of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority are traveling to Boston on Wednesday to make the case for providing enough funding to avoid proposed service cuts.

The PVTA is facing a $3.1 million budget hole after Governor Charlie Baker called for providing it with the same amount of money as this year. The authority gets almost half its funding from the state.

Representatives from regional transit authorities will meet with state House and Senate members and urge them to include more money in their versions of the budget.

Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz heads the PVTA's advisory board.

"We're particularly concerned because we have a pretty large transit-dependent ridership," he said. "And you know, these are people who depend on PVTA to get to work, to get to child care, to get to schools."

The PVTA board will meet on April 9 to vote on the proposed changes.

Narkewicz said that if the service cuts are approved, they could be reversed if more money is included in the final budget Baker signs this summer.

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Before joining New England Public Media, Alden was a producer for the CBS NEWS program 60 Minutes. In that role, he covered topics ranging from art, music and medicine to business, education and politics.