Ben Ciccati

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American public transit ridership in 2008 hit a modern record of almost 10.7 billion trips, the highest since 1956, when the interstate highway system was authorized. So why are we now cutting public transit funding?

The State of California's recent woeful budget eliminated all state funding for public transit for the next few years. While California transit agencies were bracing for a hit, this funding termination was seen as an unlikely "Armageddon Scenario" by the California Transit Association (CTA). Is a 100-percent cut anyone's idea of a "fair share"?

Santa Barbara's Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) has seen steady ridership growth during the past years, to a record level of 8.1 million trips in 2008. In fact, some routes during peak times unfortunately leave people at the curb. Chances are, once a person is left behind a couple times they are going to give up the bus and hop back in their car during peak traffic hours.

Considering its benefits to society, we should be expanding our transit service right now, not cutting back. It saves immense amounts of fossil fuels and drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions. More than half a million gallons of fuel annually are saved by MTD alone. Even more efficient are longer-distance commuter buses bringing employees from Ventura, Santa Maria, Lompoc, and the Santa Ynez Valley. The Clean Air Express, which comes from Santa Maria and Lompoc, eliminates around 200,000 highway trips per year. Each commuter on that bus would have burned eight times more fuel per trip if they had driven alone. President Barack Obama has made it clear that reducing reliance on fossil fuels is now a national priority in helping to solve problems including foreign oil dependency and climate change.

As a native son of Santa Barbara, I've personally witnessed the increase in congestion throughout the years, both on Highway 101 and our city streets. While the 101 will be under construction for the next decade as we widen the freeway, it is often impossible to widen city streets, and even if we could, street widening will not solve our problems. Los Angeles is testament to the reality that we can't build our way out of the situation. We need to use our current infrastructure in a smarter way than one lonely driver per car. Public transit-as well as carpooling, bicycling, trains, telecommuting, and other alternative transportation-can help us use existing infrastructure better.

Yet transit agencies all over the state are now paring back routes, raising fares, and taking emergency measures to shore up their budgets. Thousands of employees are out of jobs and forced into a rough economic climate. According to the CTA, the $1.7 billion cut this year translates into 80,750 jobs. And this was after the state transit budget had already been reduced by $3 billion in the last two years alone.

For the MTD, this cut means almost a $1.3 million hole in a $22 million budget. Prior funding cuts, plus increased fuel costs, recently caused MTD to cut service and raise fares from $1.25 to $1.75 for single passes, with 10-ride and monthly passes going up by a smaller amount. These reductions in service and increased fares disproportionately hit hardest those who can least afford it.

Transit activists worked hard to convince even those who could afford to drive to try transit because they might like it-especially on clean, quiet, Wi-Fi equipped hybrid buses-and indeed they do. But service cuts and fare increases could lead to a drop in ridership. Our roads will get more congested if some of these transit riders revert back to auto use.

In these tough economic times of budget cuts and layoffs, we should not be cutting support for public transit. We should continue funding this vital resource that improves our citizens' mobility and is 26 times safer than traveling in a car, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In fact, public transit helps us meet many and varied societal goals.

What can you personally do? Give your local elected officials a call or send them a note asking their opinion on this important matter. Vote for politicians who understand the importance of public transportation in our society. And try hopping on the bus more frequently, particularly during off-peak hours.

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