— San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System has officially abandoned its plans for a November ballot initiative to expand bus and trolley service, citing conditions created by coronavirus pandemic. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the agency announced the decision to scrap the “ElevateSD” campaign at its Thursday board meeting, quoting board chairman Nathan Fletcher as saying, “It is with a heavy heart we confront the obvious and unavoidable fate of Elevante for the 2020 election cycle.”
— Seattle’s Sound Transit is making additional service reductions on its Link light rail system and some bus lines “due to fluctuating staffing availability.” Link light rail frequencies will be reduced to every 30 minutes from the current 20-minute headways as of Monday, April 20. Link trains will operate with the maximum four cars to accommodate social distancing. Bus changes will begin April 18. More information is available here.
— Minneapolis-St. Paul agency Metro Transit will reduce hours for light rail service as of Saturday, suspending nighttime service between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Trips that begin prior to 9 p.m. will complete their run. In news release, Metro Transit said the new schedule will “focus limited resources on times with the greatest demand by essential riders.”
Is San Diego that inept they can’t just postpone the plan until the 2022 election cycle…it’s not that difficult to postpone a ballot initiative.