Transit Advocates in Sacramento.

Written by Will Dominie of Urban Habitat and Esperanza V. Martinez of the BRU

On February 2, 2010, Bus Riders Union members and organizers hit the streets of Los Angeles and Sacramento to meet with State representatives. In Oakland more than 40 people, representing 16 organizations from across the state, piled into an AC Transit Bus and rode to Sacramento to demand that our Legislators stop the fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs that have been devastating working class, bus riders of color and California transit operators, in part due to the raiding of State Transit Assistance (STA) funds.

Delegations for transportation justice

Delegations from the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles, were represented by the Bus Riders Union, Urban Habitat, Public Advocates, AFSCME, AC Transit workers and Directors, ATU 192 and GENESIS representing bus riders, transit operators, union workers, seniors, youth, disabled people, united for the first time to build a strong statewide voice for transportation justice.

Meetings with 19 legislators

Our statewide effort resulted in meetings in Los Angeles and Sacramento with 19 Legislators and their staff, including: Swanson, Blumenfield, Simitian, Speaker Bass, Skinner, Hill, Perez, Lowenthal (Bonnie), Lowenthal (Alan), Hyashi, Oropeza, DeSaulnier, Pavley, Leno, Eng, Hancock, Solorio, Feuer, Yee and Buchanan. 

In our meetings, we urged Legislators to 1) reject the Governor’s gas tax swap proposal, which would almost entirely eliminate funding for transit operations, 2.) Honor the Shaw vs. Chiang ruling by restoring spillover funding* to the Public Transportation Account (PTA) for purposes of supporting mass transit operations in the 2010-2011 State Budget and 3.) Agree to repay the previous diversions of transit funds over a reasonable period of time.

A voice for our communities at the table of policy

Beyond our work with Legislators, the day was an inspiring first step in building breadth and unity amonst the sectors and regions represented and most impacted by the lack of prioritization of transit operations funds.

According to BRU Planning Committee member Cesar Chavez, "at first, the experience felt intimidating because in poor, Latino communities we only hear about the people that make decisions about our lives on T.V. or in the newspaper. I never expected to be traveling to Sacramento to personally meet with legislators. I was excited to work alongside other organizations fighting for public transit funds. I think it’s great that different organizations are coming together to demand that mass transit is a priority in California."   

BRU member Crystal McMillan shared that she had, "felt that we had put the representatives on notice that we were not going to quietly accept transit needs being ignored by our elected officials. I also feel that we planted strong seeds of a viable statewide form to leverage more funds for mass transit."

Why we need to act now

Our fight for transit justice will continue to be challenged in the coming weeks as the Senate begins to discuss the state budget.  So far, Senate Democratic transit and budget proposals, though a slight improvement over Governor Schwarzenegger's, would still be DEVASTATING for transit riders, transit operators and transit workers, devolving the responsibility to fund transit to already cash strapped regions. 

Please act now and call your CA State Legislators.  You can go to this site to view talking points and find your State Representatives' contact info.  Let's convince them to protect transit funds, prevent future fare increases and transit service cuts by: 

• Restoring Spillover Funds for Mass Transit.
• Ensuring that the Elimination of the Gas Tax that funds Mass Transit and by extension the Spillover fund, not be a part of ANY Alternative to Close the State's deficit.

* Spillover funds: Since 2000, more than $4.6 billion in dedicated public transportation funds (known as “spillover” funds) have been diverted away from transit through the state budget process.