Bus rates spark rally
Dateline:
05/21/2008OAKLAND — AC Transit riders protested outside City Hall and packed the Oakland City Council chamber Wednesday to oppose a package of bus fare increases, focusing their primary energy against a plan to nearly double the cost of monthly youth passes.
About 70 people signed up to speak at the three-hour hearing. Nearly all of them opposed the increases, and the bulk of them were youths and the elderly. Youth passes would increase from $15 to $28 under the proposal recommended by AC Transit staff. Monthly passes for seniors and the disabled would rise from $20 to $28.
"It's hard to even get a $15 bus pass," said Esteban Cuaya, 17, who uses one to get to his 11th-grade classes at Skyline High School in Oakland. "If it went to $28, it would dramatically hurt me."
Cuaya echoed the comments of many youths at the protest and hearing, saying he had friends who would simply not go to school if they had to pay the higher price.
And limiting travel for young people could have other consequences, many youths and youth advocates testified.
"Most students are looking forward to after-school programs, and if you increase the fare, that will hurt their choices and will resort to negative things," said Oakland Technical High School student Lorianna Benson, 17.
A majority of AC Transit directors who heard the testimony have said they opposed the youth pass increase. They have also questioned the wisdom of other fare increases, including increasing the one-way local adult fare from $1.75 to $2, saying it might drive away riders.
"I personally don't intend to vote to raise passes," said Rebecca Kaplan, a board member who is also running for an Oakland City Council seat. "We're trying to build toward a long-term future of more people using transit," she said, which the low-cost passes help foster.
But when fare increases were proposed in March, AC Transit was facing up to a $9 million revenue shortfall for the budget year that begins July 1. Last week, a bleak state revenue forecast spawned a new state budget that makes deep cuts in aid to public transit.
Transit funding from sales tax on gasoline is to be diverted for other purposes, such as paying for school bus service in other parts of the state, and AC Transit stands to lose $19 million in funding as a result, said Deborah McClain, AC Transit's chief financial officer.
And since the last fare increase in 2005, increasing expenses such as diesel fuel and employee health care and retirement have pushed up costs 14 percent, she told the board.
If it decides a fare increase makes sense, the board will choose from one of four plans at a meeting either June 11 or June 25. Perhaps the increase with the most likely chance of passage is for transbay fares, going from $3.50 to $4 for a single adult ride and from $116 to $132.50 for an adult monthly pass.
If forcing the poor, elderly and disabled to choose between bus fares and food, health care or education weren't enough, Michael Pirsch of Emeryville warned of another effect of the fare increases.
AC Transit and other public transportation agencies are "at the front line of the world's most urgent crisis and that is global warming," said Pirsch, 61, who uses buses to go "everywhere."
Raising fares would drive away people from public transit and add to greenhouse gasses emitted in greater quantities by solo driving, he said.
Several advocates for low-income riders asked AC Transit to seek more funding from other sources, such as the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, instead of higher fares.
"The MTC is funding BART and Caltrain to the detriment of the working poor, students and seniors," testified Michele Jordan, representing Genesis, a local faith-based community group. "You must protect, and not harm, these groups."
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