A proposition on the February ballot could make or break the availability of public transportation for many in Sumner and on the Plateau.

Proposition 1 is on the Feb. 8 ballot and would create a three-tenths of 1 percent increase in local sales tax to fund Pierce Transit.

If the proposition fails, Pierce Transit will make severe cuts in service.

Lind Simonsen, community relations specialist for Pierce Transit, gave a presentation to the Sumner City Council, describing the potential effects of the failure of Proposition 1 on current levels of service.

Bonney Lake received a similar presentation in October.

Simonsen said 70 percent of Pierce Transit’s funding comes from sales tax, but a drop in tax revenue the past two years is leaving Pierce Transit with fewer dollars. Simonsen said the funding gap is now $68 million. Pierce Transit raised the adult fares in January 2009 and November 2010, bringing the cost of an adult fare to $2.

Proposition 1’s passage would allow Pierce Transit to continue providing service at the current level and perhaps fund some expansion. If it fails, Simonsen said Pierce Transit will need to make steep cuts at the level of 35 percent.

The prospect of cutting services to riders at this time is unfortunate because ridership is up, Simonsen said. Not only is there a downturn in the revenue that’s coming in, there’s also an increase in demand.

Starting in June 2011, a reduction of morning and afternoon/evening trips and shuttle service would occur. The frequency of bus service could decrease by half in some areas.

“Weekend services now is growing pretty substantially on Saturdays and Sundays.”

Shuttle service would be strongly affected and won’t operate during the day, said Simonsen. Shuttles are used to transport riders with physical or mental disabilities to work and other locations.

The effect of the cuts isn’t only on riders of public transportation, but also on other commuters and the environment.

About half of Pierce Transit’s regular customers have a vehicle, Simonsen said, and because they ride transit it reduces emissions and traffic.

“If Pierce Transit didn’t operate, we would add approximately 22,000 car trips to the road on an average weekday,” he said.