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 email:eegenebradley@yahoo.com SOUTH BAY TRANSIT RIDERS GROUP TO PRESENT FINANCIAL STABILITY PLAN AT VTA BOARD MEETING ON THURSDAY Group's Plan Is One Month Ahead Of and More Comprehensive Than Any VTA Financial Stability Plan SUNNYVALE, CA (March 5, 2003) – The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU - http://www.vtaridersunion.org/) will present its own plan for attaining financial stability for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) at the VTA Board meeting on March 6 at 6:00pm at 70 W. Hedding Street in San Jose. The 27-page report, entitled "Transit Medicine," details proven, practical solutions the VTA needs to resolve its current transit budget crisis. This report was presented to the VTA's ad-hoc Financial Stability Committee at their February 7 meeting. This was the same meeting where the Committee voted to spend $150,000 on three consulting groups to tell the Committee where fare box and tax revenue has gone to the last few years. Since last April, SCVTARU has told VTA Board members and management how many millions of dollars have been wasted on consultants and administration - only to be ignored and dismissed by VTA. The tone of recent Committee meetings suggests the only solution to the VTA's fiscal crisis is to continue punishing commuters with higher fares and more reduced service. SCVTARU notes how the committee frequently dismisses short-term solutions such as parking cash-out as being impossible to do, while basically dragging their feet on long-term solutions such as redefining land use policies to better encourage transit ridership and boost fare box recovery. SCVTARU members and supporters have brought up in these meetings how bad land use decisions, such as construction of parking garages in Sunnyvale and Campbell, have helped keep transit ridership and fare box recovery low. The Committee is due to give its report to the full VTA Board in April. SCVTARU feels that, with the VTA due to be bankrupt on June 30, 2003, the sooner solutions are proposed to the entire VTA Board, the faster VTA can begin taking action on its fiscal crisis. Hence, we are presenting our financial stability plan to the entire VTA Board one month ahead of the Committee. The first portion of our report defines VTA's current transit financial problem. One obvious factor is the ongoing economic recession. Two other factors contributed to VTA's current financial woes - an overdependence on local sales tax revenue and a spending philosophy where day-to-day operations funding is placed below funding for capital projects. Symptoms of VTA's financial woes include fare increases by 15% and service reductions by 20% within the last two years - with another 10% service reduction effective April 14. Worse, VTA will consider reducing service by another 20% this fall if the financial situation does not improve. Our report then details short-term and long-term solutions that VTA needs to use to resolve its financial woes. One example of our short-term solutions includes requiring all VTA management and staff to use the county's bus and light rail system instead of fleet cars. BART recently got rid of all of its company cars except one, to help cut down on spending. The money saved can be used to help fund employee health plans and child care, while helping to promote the transit system as an alternative to driving. One example of our long-term solutions includes giving a 10% auto insurance discount to VTA transit riders who purchase an Eco-Pass subscription or purchase 11 monthly passes out of 12 in a calendar year. This is similar to what is done in Massachusetts now. This part of our plan would generate more transit ridership in the long term, thus increasing revenue. The goals of increased revenue and more ridership our plan can generate are the exact opposite of what VTA proposes in its fiscal fix plan, "Obtaining Sustainable Financial Stability." One example of how backward VTA's plan is can be found on page 14, where their baseline projections include fare hikes by 10% every other year. SCVTARU, as well as VTA Board Member Blanca Alvarado, protested against this proposal at a VTA Workshop back in February; however VTA planners included the proposal anyway. Worse, on page 52, the same baseline assumption includes that their ridership will grow by 1% a year even with these huge fare hikes. SCVTARU does not know of any local transit agency in the US where ridership has increased despite fare hikes every other year. SCVTARU wonders why VTA management continues to drag its feet in developing real solutions to its fiscal woes - only to propose solutions that punish transit riders with higher fares and more reduced service. We believe that transit service and funding should never depend on local or global economic conditions. We are more than open to discussion with VTA Board members and staff regarding implementation of solutions mentioned in our report. Concerned taxpayers and transit riders can view our report on our web site, www.vtaridersunion.org. SCVTARU also encourages every commuter in the South Bay to join us at the March 6 VTA Board meeting in a show of support for our plan. ### 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 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.