EDITOR: The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU), a transit
advocacy and watchdog group for the South Bay, is opposed to the
latest fare hike proposal from the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority (VTA).
EDITOR:
The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU), a transit advocacy and watchdog group for the South Bay, is opposed to the latest fare hike proposal from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). SCVTARU instead calls upon on the VTA to bite the bullet and cut back on its administrative spending which totals $56 million per year – the highest such costs in the United States.
The VTA’s Board of Directors will vote on the fare hike proposal on Thursday, April 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the County Supervisors Chambers at 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose. If approved by the 12-member VTA Board, the fare hikes take effect Jan. 1, 2005. It would mark the third time in three years VTA has raised transit fares if VTA passes the fare increase proposal.
VTA claims the fare hike would save $5 million this fiscal year. We call it “un-fare” because it places VTA’s $100 million deficit on the backs of transit riders in Santa Clara County. Seniors, disabled and youth are the hardest hit. In particular, VTA proposes an increase in the senior/disabled monthly pass from $17.50 to $27.50 – a 57 percent increase. Worse, VTA proposes to increase the youth monthly pass from $30 to $52 – a 73 percent increase.
Even with the price of gasoline at over $2 per gallon, VTA’s fare increase proposal will force more former public transit users onto our already congested highways. The consequences the Valley will continue to suffer if VTA approves its “un-fare” hike proposal are many: increased gridlock on our highways; additional pollution in our air; deceleration of the area’s economic recovery, and accelerated diminishing of the quality of life.
Public transit in Santa Clara Valley – particularly the buses – transports low- and middle-income workers in the retail and service sectors of the region – sectors that are the foundation of our world-famous “tech economy.” Yet, over the last three years, VTA has had four rounds of service cuts and two consecutive years of fare increases – placing barriers to education, entertainment, jobs, health care, and thus economic growth as a result.
In fact, the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2002 show that Santa Clara County ranks 77th in the nation with only 4 percent of workers over 16 years of age use public transit. VTA Board Chair (and Santa Clara County Supervisor) Don Gage’s recent remarks on how public transit is cheaper than driving are negated by the fact that it takes two hours to reach destinations by transit as opposed to roughly half an hour to reach the same destination via automobile. Here in Silicon Valley, time saved is a more important commodity than money saved.
VTA’s recent announcement of a 30 percent drop in ridership over the last two years comes as no surprise. VTA has lost over 55,000 transit riders since 2001.
During the economic recession, the Valley has lost over 200,000 jobs. When you account that only 4 percent of the Valley’s commuters use public transit, that is 10,000 riders lost due to the recession. The loss of over 45,000 transit riders over the last two years is easily traced to the four service cuts and two fare hikes VTA has implemented since 2001. During that time, VTA has been losing an average of over 15,000 riders per year as a result of a 20 percent decrease in transit service and fares that have increased an average of 40 percent.
In other words, VTA’s claim that the economy is the reason for the drop in ridership and farebox revenue is misleading. Over 80 percent of VTA’s lost ridership is due to all the fare hikes and service cuts they have implemented, while just under 20 percent of the lost ridership is actually due to the economic downturn.
Meanwhile, VTA spends $56 million per year on administrators – the highest such costs in the nation. According to VTA Policy Advisory Committee member Greg Perry, the VTA’s “budget” crisis is really a crisis in spending – a crisis that VTA has still not fully resolved yet.
According to data VTA submitted to the National Transit Database in 2001, VTA spends $56 million per year on administrative costs. These are the highest such costs in the nation. Worse VTA has over 1,800 administrators – nearly 4 times the national average for a public transit agency – including New York City. Perry estimates that if VTA were to immediately implement administrative spending cuts, it would save over $8 million per year. With VTA estimating that its “un-fare” hike proposal saves $5 million per year, VTA would not need to raise fares if it immediately implemented cuts in administrative spending.
With immediate cuts in administrative spending implemented, VTA would not need further fare hikes or service reductions to offset its $100 million deficit. The increases in ridership that would result would reduce highway gridlock, reduce pollution in our air, promote economic growth, and ameliorate the quality of life in the Valley. SCVTARU strongly urges VTA to make its administrative sacrifices “fare” to transit riders and taxpayers in the Valley on April 1.
Eugene Bradley, President of the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union
