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San Mateo County Coastsiders may lose critical bus routes
Contra Costa Times
Coastsiders could lose access to nearly all the bus routes they depend on each day as a result of proposed SamTrans budget cuts affecting bus service ranging from Pescadero to Pacifica. SamTrans officials say the drastic cuts — and some proposed fare increases — may prove necessary in light of a projected $28.4 million budget deficit. State cuts to public transit wiped out 22 percent of the agency's budget, and the recession also took its toll with declining sales tax revenue and some private investments that went south, according to SamTrans spokeswoman Christine Dunn.
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East Palo Alto bus lines may be cut
San Mateo County Times
Possible cuts to four of five SamTrans bus lines that serve East Palo Alto could prove disastrous to residents, many of whom rely on public transportation to get to jobs and supermarkets elsewhere, city officials and residents said Monday. Facing a $28.4 million operating budget deficit, SamTrans is proposing fare increases and bus service reductions or eliminations to 22 lines, including the 280 and 281 routes, which run between Palo Alto and East Palo Alto, and the 297 and 397 buses, which provide night service to Palo Alto, Redwood City and San Francisco with stops in East Palo Alto and other cities.
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Forum addresses worries about the future of public transit
Good Times Santa Cruz
The Campaign for Sensible Transportation hosted [a] July 30 Town Hall meeting, at which Assemblyman Bill Monning spoke of how the proposed state budget is drastically affecting the future of public transportation. Monning explained that $336 million from spillover revenues that would be used for public transportation is now being allocated toward other divisions in order to pay off the state’s debt. According to him, California is now ranked last among the 50 states when it comes to the amount of funding appropriated toward public transportation. After the meeting, it became clear to the community that the heated issue of budget cuts to public transportation is far from over. Until the problem gets resolved, Monning said that the community cannot lose its momentum, stressing the importance of community organizing and progressive tax reform that would constitute historic change.
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Poll: Californians Don’t Like Gas Prices, Want Better Transit
LA Streetsblog
A new survey released...by the Public Policy Institute of California has been getting a lot of play in the press because of the strong support Californians are showing for Greenhouse Gas reduction programs, even in the midst of the current recession and budget crisis...the PPIC asked Californians what they thought about transit expansion and gas prices. The results? Californians are tired of paying such a high price for gas and want more alternatives.
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Californians Put Environment on Back Burner But Still Support Transit
SF Streetsblog
According to a new survey, the economic benefits of walking, biking and taking transit may ultimately be their strongest selling point for Californians - at least during a recession. The poll, conducted by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California, shows overwhelming support for transit: 77 percent of Californians think the state should "focus on expanding mass transit and using carpool lanes, pricing, and other strategies to more efficiently use the existing freeways and highways" instead of focusing on building more freeways and highways, which only 18 percent supported.
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U.S. public transit improvements will be a tough sell
Los Angeles Times
Over the course of two weeks in Japan, I rode just about every form of public transit imaginable. Nearly every ride was smooth, on schedule and affordable. So I have to wonder: Is it possible we could ever have anything even remotely similar here? ... Brian Taylor, director of UCLA's Institute of Transportation Studies, said the hardest part isn't constructing the infrastructure for a world-class public transit system. It's creating the necessary incentives to get Americans out of their cars. "If we don't put these policies in place here, people will look at our current investment in public transportation 10 years down the line and say what a waste it was," Taylor said. "And then we'll start investing again in roads."
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