Santa Clara VTA Riders Union P. O. Box 390069 Mountain View, CA 94039-0069 PRESS RELEASE #072002-02 - 2 pages * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * Press Contacts: Eugene Bradley (408)830-9284 email: eegenebradley@yahoo.com Gladwyn D'Souza phone (408)857-7347 SOUTH BAY TRANSIT RIDERS GROUP WELCOMES FEDERAL COURT DECISION FOR MASS TRANSIT Says Court Decision Will Result In Improved Mass Transit, Better Air Quality SUNNYVALE (July 23, 2002) - The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU – http://www.vtaridersunion.org/) today celebrates a major victory for mass transit and the environment in the San Francisco Bay Area. In a ruling released on Monday, US District Court Judge Thelton Henderson ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Commission ("MTC") to ensure that Bay Area regional transit operators increase regional ridership 15 percent above 1983 levels by no later than November 9, 2006. This ruling marks the conclusion of a lawsuit by community and environmental groups against MTC filed in February 2001. The groups filed to force implementation of TCM 2, a transportation control measure adopted 20 years ago by MTC to meet its Clean Air Act obligations to reduce air pollution. The suit was necessary because transit ridership today is only slightly higher than it was in 1983, despite a 30 percent increase in population. Note that this lawsuit was filed seven months before SCVTARU was founded in October 2000. Last November, Judge Henderson found that MTC is required by law to achieve and maintain the 15 percent ridership increase under the Clean Air Act and that it has failed to do so. In Monday's ruling, the Court also "...rejected MTC's arguments that TCM 2 is not linked to public health and that 'public health is simply not a factor in this case.'" SCVTARU expects the impact of Monday's decision will be felt in the South Bay. We continue to lament over millions of taxpayer dollars the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority ("VTA") continues to waste on consultants and trial lawyers instead of maintaining reliable bus and light rail service. This waste has been well documented on our web site, www.vtaridersunion.org, and is mailed out to new members of our group. VTA's continued waste of local and state tax dollars, combined with their recent fare hikes and service cuts, serve to increase congestion while simultaneously reducing the ability for people to use reliable, affordable mass transportation. Even now, major capital highway projects from State Highway 85 to State Highway 237 have bogged commuters down in congestion. At the same time, options for commuters continue to get degraded. It is a scenario that Santa Clara County voters in 1996, 2000, and recently with Proposition 42 did not vote for, when they approved ballot measures to improve mass transit. Buses suffered the major cuts in VTA's most recent budget woes, when they enacted to raise fares and reduce service at their June 8 Board meeting. Ironically, buses are the cheapest form of transportation to implement, operate, and maintain compared to any other venture that the county has invested in, including the BART extension to San Jose. Buses also provide the highest revenue (fare box recovery) and boarding rate of all the transit modes. As Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado pointed out in previous VTA Board meetings, the low ridership and low fare box recovery of light rail could be improved by running buses in those corridors. Instead, VTA continues to spend on expensive freeway expansions (such as the Highway 85/US 101 Interchange), light rail projects (e.g. Vasona LRT from San Jose to Campbell/Los Gatos), as well as unnecessary consultants and lawyers, while degrading a cheap and reliable option for commuters like bus service. Our founder, Eugene Bradley, commented on Monday's federal court decision: "Judge Henderson's decision sends a powerful message to Bay Area transit agencies such as the VTA. That message is that if you have money to spend on flashy rail extensions and highway expansion, then you have money to spend on basic transit service such as buses that can be used to break gridlock and decrease pollution immediately." About the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union -------------------------------------- Founded in October 2000, 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/. Our organization shares absolutely no affiliation with, nor is endorsed by, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in any way whatsoever. ###