Supporters of public transportation are calling for more funding in the state budget.
Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority CEO Bill Carpenter joined other advocates in pushing for an additional 25-million dollars for upstate operating assistance, and a capital investment for upstate and downstate transit systems of at least 100-million.
He says they closed a 6.2-million dollar budget gap using one-time resources, but they balanced the budget in a way that is unsustainable, so they are asking for these funds from the state.
Carpenter says across our region, more and more people are using public transit to build their lives around.
Carpenter is also defending the request for more funding in the wake of a recent audit by the state comptroller which was critical of the Authority's handling of bonus pay the past three years.
He says they have a system in place where if they balance their budget, those bonus costs are included, and are performance incentives are paid out on just that -- performance.
