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 (in alphabetical order): Eugene Bradley 24 hr. cell/pager (408)888-2208 email: eegenebradley@yahoo.com SUNNYVALE, CA (March 12, 2004) – The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU – http://www.vtaridersunion.org/), a transit advocacy and watchdog group for the South Bay, today announces its opposition 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 5:30pm at the County Supervisors Chambers at 70 W. Hedding Street in San Jose. If approved by the 12-member VTA Board, the fare hikes would take effect January 1, 2005. It would mark the third time in three years VTA has raised transit fares if VTA passes the fare increase proposal. A table featuring the proposed transit fares, and the percent of increase, follows: April 2004 VTA Fare Hike Proposal Fare Type August 2003 Proposed Percent (April 2004) Increase Adult (18-64) Local $1.50 $1.75 17 Express $3.00 $3.50 17 Day pass $4.50 $5.25 17 Express Day Pass $9.00 $10.50 17 Local Monthly Pass $52.50 $61.25 17 Express Monthly Pass $90.00 $122.50 36 Local Annual Pass $577.50 $674.00 17 Express Annual Pass $990.00 $1,348.00 36 Youth (up to 18) Local $1.25 $1.50 20 Day pass $3.75 $4.50 20 Monthly Local/Express Pass $30.00 $52.00 73 Annual Pass $330.00 $573.00 74 Senior/Disabled (65+) Local $0.75 $0.75 0 Day pass $1.75 $2.25 29 Monthly Local/Express Pass $17.50 $27.50 57 Annual Pass $121.00 $192.50 59 VTA claims the fare hike would save $5 million this fiscal year. SCVTARU calls the VTA's latest proposal “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 VTA's fare increase proposal. In particular, VTA proposes an increase in the senior/disabled monthly pass from $17.50 to $27.50 – a 57% increase. Worse, VTA proposes to increase the youth monthly pass from $30.00 to $52.00 – a 73% increase! Even with the price of gasoline at over $2.00 per gallon, VTA's fare increase proposal, if approved April 1, 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 on April 1 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 in the Valley. 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% of workers over 16 years of age use public transit. This shocking statistic can be found on our web site at http://www.vtaridersunion.org/statistics/pubtrans_county_2002.html. VTA Board Chair (and Santa Clara County Supervisor) Don Gage's recent remarks in the media 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. SCVTARU notes that in the Valley, time saved is a more important commodity than money saved. VTA's recent announcement of a 30% 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% 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% decrease in transit service and fares that have increased an average of 40%. In other words, VTA's claim that the economy is the reason for the drop in ridership and farebox revenue is misleading. Over 80% of VTA's lost ridership is due to all the fare hikes and service cuts they have implemented, while just under 20% 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 (greg_perry1234@yahoo.com), 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 1800 administrators - nearly 4 times the national average for a public transit agency - including New York City! Mr. Perry estimates that if VTA were to immediately implement administrative spending cuts, it would save over $8 million per year. With VTA estimating that their “un-fare” hike proposal saves $5 million per year, VTA would not need to raise fares if it immediately implemented cuts in administrative spending. To that end, SCVTARU is calling upon concerned transit riders and taxpayers to attend the following public hearings on VTA's “un-fare” hike proposal at the following dates and locations: * March 15 at 3pm - Campbell Library (Community Room) - 77 Harrison Ave., Campbell (accessible from VTA Bus Line 26) * March 15 at 7pm - Eastside Senior Center - 2150 Alum Rock Avenue, San Jose (accessible from VTA line 64) * March 16 at 7pm - First United Methodist Church - 24 N. Fifth Street, San Jose (accessible from VTA bus lines 22, 64, and 300) (Spanish and Vietnamese translators will be available) * March 17 at 3pm - Lucy Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto (accessible from VTA bus line 35) * March 18 at 7pm - Mountain View City Hall - 501 Castro St., Mountain View (accessible from VTA bus lines 22, 35, 51 and 52 - only four blocks north of the Mountain View Caltrain station) * March 22 at 3pm – Gilroy City Council Chambers, 7351 Rosanna St., Gilroy (accessible from VTA bus lines 19) 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. ### 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. Our web site is at 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. Note to Editors and News Desks: More information on SCVTARU can be found at the following URLs: http://www.vtaridersunion.org/whoarewe/who.html http://www.vtaridersunion.org/PR