The Tempe Citizen Advisory Transportation Commission voted to approve Tempe in Motion’s proposed bus route changes Tuesday morning.

After two rounds of public meetings to discuss the proposed changes, city transportation officials presented the projected changes to the public in October and November and then to the transportation commission with a steeper budget.

The city originally proposed changes to the bus system as a means of making up for a $7.4 million deficit.

The city is now predicting a $13.5 million deficit based on the statistics from the new fiscal year, said Sue Taaffe, Tempe’s community outreach and marketing coordinator.

Ben Goren, a commission member, was one of two members who voted against the proposed changes and spoke out at the meeting, saying the budget cuts were severely damaging the bus system.

“We’re already cutting close to the bone, and now it looks like we have to cut into the bone,” Goren said.

Bryan Young, a member of the commission who said he uses the bus system himself, voted in favor of the proposed changes to the bus routes.

“The reason I approved those [changes] is based on public comment. It seems like the best alternative with consideration for the members of the community,” Young said. “It’s not an ideal solution; I’d like to keep the bus system the way it is and actually grow the bus system, but being realistic, it seemed the best alternative.”

The changes will be presented to the Council Transportation Committee Nov. 24 for approval before it is passed on to the Tempe City Council on Dec. 10 for final approval.

If the changes are approved, residents will start to see the changes implemented in January 2010.

In total, 12 routes within the Tempe Transit system will change if the proposal is passed. The changes include routes 30, 62, 65, 66, 77, 81, 92, and Orbit routes Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter while Route 76 would be eliminated.

Nathan Porter, a Tempe resident who uses route 76 regularly to get from his Scottsdale home to his job in downtown Tempe, said the elimination of route 76 may force him to drive instead of using public transit.

“The purpose of the bus system is to have reasonably priced convenient transportation. The elimination of the bus route is going to force people like me to rely on their cars,” Porter said. “It’s a lot less convenient; I’m going to have to walk half a mile to get to the 72, and in the summertime, that’s a daunting task.”

Greg Jordan, Tempe transit administrator, said the city tried to accommodate bus riders’ concerns and took into account the more than 500 comments collected at six public meetings and eight meetings with individual organizations when constructing the proposal.

Taaffe said the city was able to reach a compromise with the public on some routes, including the Orbit Venus, where she said residents were willing to give up some bus frequency in order to keep the route running to Broadway Road.

“We tried the best we could to address people’s needs while still cutting the budget,” Taaffe said.

Reach the reporter at michelle.parks@asu.edu.