SANTA CLARA VTA RIDERS UNION P. O. Box 390069 Mountain View, CA 94039-0069 http://www.vtaridersunion.org/ NEWS RELEASE TO: Editor, News Assignment Desk, Transportation Reporter * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * Press Contact: Eugene Bradley 24 hr. cell/pager (408)888-2208 Yahoo!/AOL/MSN ID: eegenebradley SOUTH BAY TRANSIT RIDERS GROUP OPPOSES LATEST ROUND OF VTA PROPOSED SERVICE CUTS Urges Massive Turnout of Transit Riders At VTA Service Cut Meetings From December 2-11 SUNNYVALE, CA (December 2, 2002) – The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU - http://www.vtaridersunion.org/) today announces its opposition to service cuts the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is proposing in meetings between now and December 11. In addition, the VTA is proposing more layoffs of transit operators and mechanics. If approved by the VTA Board in February, the service cuts and layoffs will take effect in April 2003. The first of these meetings will take place today at 3pm and 7pm at the Campbell Public Library Community Room, located at 77 Harrison Avenue in Campbell. It is near VTA bus lines 26 and 60. Meetings will take place in one area of the county per day until December 11. The last meeting will take place on the 11th at 7pm, at the Columbia Neighborhood Center at 785 Morse Avenue in Sunnyvale. The Center is a few blocks from N. Fair Oaks Ave. and VTA Bus line 26. Information on specific meeting times, dates, and sites can be found on the web at www.vtaridersunion.org/vtameetings/12_2k2_for_4_2k3.html. SCVTARU feels that the VTA is continuing to take the easy way out of its fiscal crisis by proposing more bus and light rail service cuts. Currently, the VTA is facing a $6 billion operating shortfall over the next 25 years, and needs at least $140 million per year to keep Santa Clara County's bus and light rail system running. Amongst the highlights of the proposed service cuts are: * Elimination of late-night service (2:00am - 4:30am) on line 22 and the entire light rail system * Elimination of bus line 56 (Fair Oaks & El Camino in Sunnyvale to Milpitas) * Having the 300 bus line (between Palo Alto and East San Jose) run only during the morning and evening weekday peak periods In all, 65 of the VTA's 72 transit lines are proposed to have reduced frequencies, reduced service hours, or elimination altogether. "Voters in the South Bay wanted more buses and light rail in the last few elections, not less" said Eugene Bradley, founder of the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union. "Clearly, the VTA has broken its promise to voters to fund and operate a modern alternative to driving than what exists now." Specifics on bus and light rail lines affected by the proposal are listed on the VTA's web site at www.vta.org. Recently, SCVTARU sent its proposal to end the VTA's fiscal crisis, entitled "Transit Medicine," to VTA management and Board members. (That plan can be viewed online at www.vtaridersunion.org/regional/scvtaru_fy03_plan.html.) On November 30, we received a response from VTA General Manager Peter Cipolla re: our proposal. While it is good that the VTA has implemented our suggestion of advertising the county's bus and light rail system as an alternative to driving, we wonder why the VTA has spent seven months dragging its feet over finding stable revenue to run Santa Clara County's bus and light rail system. SCVTARU originally proposed a less formal version of this plan back in April, with no response from anyone at VTA until November 30. Throughout this time period, SCVTARU observed that the VTA has prioritized the San Jose BART extension over the health of its bus and light rail system, as witnessed by the approval of an $80 million bond against 2000 Measure A funding to purchase right-of-way for the BART extension - days after announcing their $6 billion operating shortfall over the next 25 years. "If the VTA can find money for the BART extension, then it can find money to keep buses, light rail, and Caltrain running in the South Bay," said Eugene Bradley, founder of the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union. Last December, then VTA Board Vice Chair Ron Gonzales promised to find stable funding to run the county's buses and light rail. As Ron Gonzales' term as VTA Board Chair nears an end, that promise has not been kept. Worse, on November 5, voters in Santa Clara County approved Measure B, a VTA ordinance that locks in future state and federal transportation funding exclusively for highway construction projects until 2036. SCVTARU states that these proposed service cuts are only the tip of the iceberg on the long-term effects of Measure B, which we strongly opposed.. Transit riders, concerned taxpayers, and VTA employees are urged to speak out in vast numbers over the next few days and weeks to preserve the bus and light rail system in the South Bay. SCVTARU has developed a web portal that helps citizens speak directly to VTA Board members and management on our web site, at www.vtaridersunion.org. The portal is titled, "How To Fight For Your Civil Right To Transit." Citizens without web access can request this same information by writing to P. O. Box 390069, Mountain View, CA 94039-0069. To help facilitate the fight to preserve bus and light rail service in the South Bay, we have formed a coalition known as Rescue VTA. Members of that coalition include ACORN San Jose (408-293-1520), BayRail Alliance (www.bayrailalliance.org), the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC - www.transcoalition.org), and Greenbelt Alliance (www.greenbelt.org). More information on this coalition can be obtained by contacting Kim Strickland at (408)948-2285. ### About the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union -------------------------------------- Founded in October 2000 by Eugene Bradley, the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union is a grassroots-based organization dedicated to ensuring that elected officials improve and implement cost-effective, frequent, and reliable mass transit in Santa Clara County. You can find more information on the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union at http://www.vtaridersunion.org/. We are a non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Sunnyvale, CA. Our organization has absolutely no affiliation with, nor is endorsed by, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in any way whatsoever.