In The News

Last Sunday, April 24th, the Santa Barbara ran an op-ed piece that COAST wrote in protest of Plan Santa Barbara‘s lack of direction. Online subscribers of the News Press can click here to read it on the NP’s website. If you would like to add your own opinion to Plan Santa Barbara, and want to talk to the committee directly, click here.

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1) BACKGROUND

a) Why is State transit money not used for transit? How can we get better transit service?

i) The Transportation Development Act (TDA) is a 1/4-cent State Sales Tax enacted in 1971 to fund transportation services for those that cannot afford or use automobiles.
ii) The State collects TDA funds and distributes them to counties based on population.
iii) Santa Barbara County receives about $14 million annually in TDA funds.
iv) TDA allows transit funds to be used for other transportation purposes if the Regional Transportation Authority (SBCAG) finds that there are “no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet”.
v) The North and South portions of Santa Barbara County have roughly the same population and, after administrative costs, they receive $6.5 million each to provide transit services although census data indicate that the transit-dependent population is substantially larger in North County.
vi) 9 out of 10 transit trips take place in the South Coast
vii) The Metropolitan Transit District (MTD), an independent transit agency that receives the money and uses it to provide transit services, serves the South Coast.
viii) There is no independent transit agency in North County. The municipalities control transit “agencies” (SMAT in Santa Maria, COLT in Lompoc, SVTA in Santa Ynez Valley) that contract out services.
ix) Lack of transit services in North County is due to:
- (1) The geographical distribution of population and agricultural character of North County.
- (2) Development patterns that encourage sprawl and low density.
- (3) An institutional bias against transit users by transportation planners and political leaders.
- (4) Lack of an independent transit agency like South Coast’s MTD.

b) What is SBCAG?

i) The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is the Regional Transportation Authority. Picture SBCAG as the bottleneck in the hourglass: State and Federal funds come from the top, and they need to pass through SBCAG to reach member agencies at the bottom.
ii) The Board of Directors of SBCAG consists of the five County District Supervisors plus one Representative from each incorporated city (5+8 = 13).
iii) 7 SBCAG representatives are from the North County.
iv) 5 SBCAG representatives are from the South Coast.
v) UTN is a North County issue. The South Coast allocates all TDA funds to transit.
vi) Because three SBCAG member agencies (Santa Maria, Lompoc, and the County) use TDA money for something other than transit, SBCAG must conduct an annual outreach process, conduct public hearings and prepare a “Transit Needs Assessment” document. SBCAG must find that there are “no Unmet Transit Needs that are Reasonable to Meet” before these three jurisdictions can use any TDA funds for other transportation purposes.

iii) The larger plan calls for another extension from Buellton to Los Alamos and Santa Maria via Highway 101, thus completing “the triangle”.
iv) Buellton is envisioned as the hub and transfer point to the South Coast. MTD currently has a “valley Express” from Santa Barbara to Buellton.

c) Specific service requests: Here are some examples of how to frame your request

i) Example #1: “My name is XXXX and I am a resident of —– since 19xx. My children and I take the #2 bus at the corner of XX Street in the morning but the bus is so full that sometimes it does not stop and we need to wait another 30 minutes for the next one, which makes us late for school.”
ii) Example #2: “My Name is XXXX and I live in —-. My husband and I have only one car and sometimes we are stranded because he needs the car during the day and I need to go to XX twice a week. If there was a bus along XX Street to go downtown it would be great for us.”

Learn more about COAST’s Participation in UTN

Grant OK’d for farmworker van program

By Chuck Schultz/Senior Staff Writer, Santa Maria Times

About $3.1 million in state grant money has been approved for a pilot program to buy and operate vans for safely transporting hundreds of Santa Maria Valley farmworkers to and from the fields each day.

That grant of Ag Worker Transportation Funding, the largest of five doled out statewide by Caltrans Thursday, will be used over the next 30 months to buy a total of 31 vans in several phases, beginning early next year, said Matt Dobberteen, alternative transportation manager for the county Public Works Department.

“We’re absolutely thrilled,” he said Friday, that all the grant money sought for the startup program was awarded by the state.

Daily operation of the van pools will be overseen by the Santa Maria Organization of Transportation Helpers (SMOOTH).

The program will be closely patterned after one that has been successfully operating in Kings County for more than five years.

“I’m pleased to say ours was the largest of five grants given out” by Caltrans, which totaled just under $10 million, Dobberteen added. “The state is extremely excited to work with us, and is pleased with our efforts” in launching the program with nine, used vans purchased last month from Kings County.

Money for those vehicles was allocated in late October by the county Board of Supervisors, from $150,000 previously set aside by the county and Santa Maria city.

Farmworkers using the van pools will be each charged between $3 and $6 per day, depending on how far they ride. Drivers won’t have to pay the fares, but otherwise won’t be paid.

To qualify as drivers, they must have to have valid licenses, be insurable, pass a physical exam and clear a DMV check of their 10-year driving history.

Dobberteen said some of the used vans are expected to be in operation by the end of this month. The first batch of new vans probably will be purchased by spring.

Advocates, who have repeatedly urged such a program for more than two years, contend it will reduce the number of farmworkers being driven to and from work by unlicensed or uninsured drivers, often in unsafe vehicles.

The supervisors unanimously agreed to fund the program through June 2008, but will hear a report on its operation prior to that before deciding whether to extend it through June 2010, when the state grant expires.

Anyone interested in being one of the vanpool drivers is encouraged to call the project manager for SMOOTH, Rosemary Luque, at 922-8476.

Chuck Schultz can be reached at 925-2691, Ext. 2241, or at cschultz@santamariatimes.com. Senior Staff Writer Malia Spencer contributed to this story.

December 15, 2007

When Will Buses Get Rolling in North County?

Panel contemplates North County transit expansion

The feasibility of expanding bus services for North County residents traveling between cities is being explored as part of a new regional transit plan prepared by the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG).

The North Santa Barbara County Transit Plan sets priorities for what projects should be pursued with transit money over the next decade and focuses on coordinating services between all agencies in the region – but some officials say it might not go far enough.

Click here to read more of this story.

Intercommunity Service: “The Breeze”

“The Breeze” is the name of the new Lompoc-Vandenberg Air Force Base-Santa Maria bus service started in March as a result of legal action by COAST and David Pierce, a resident of Lompoc, regarding the unmet need for intercommunity service.

After only 6 months in operation, ridership has already reached the benchmark set for its 3rd year, thus guaranteeing its continuance and expansion. Started as a 3-year pilot project, The Breeze serves primarily commuters between the two cities and VAFB, although ridership is rising rapidly at non-peak hours as well.

Coordination with local transit at Lompoc (COLT) and Santa Maria (SMAT) have contributed to The Breeze’s success. Congratulations to volunteers, transit operators, legal counselors and public officials that made this possible.

COAST’s Reports on Transit Needs:

In order to document the need for more transit service, COAST has prepared annual reports for SBCAG and the public describing the demand for bus service that had not been satisfied by some North Santa Barbara County communities. The 2002 report is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format (a free PDF reader is available here if you need it), and the 2003 through 2005 reports are in Microsoft Word format. Look at them here:

Vanpools for Farmworkers

A lawsuit by Attorney Marc Chytilo on behalf of Santa Maria area farmworkers has yielded several valuable benefits. Although COAST was not a part of this civil action, the public testimony of dozens of Mixtec farmworkers requesting transportation at SBCAG hearings was pivotal in securing this settlement.

Mr. Chytilo challenged SBCAG’s 2004 Unmet Transit Needs findings and, as a consequence, the SBCAG Board reserved funds from the 2005 TDA allocation to fund a vanpool-based agricultural worker transit system. The County dedicated $100,000 and Santa Maria $50,000 of their TDA funds to establish a pilot farmworker transportation program for 2 years, starting in March 2006.

In addition, the County is developing a North County Regional Transit Plan, another element of the lawsuit demand. This plan, scheduled for completion in 2006, is expected to identify what additional transit services are needed in North County.

Finally, there will be additional public workshops addressing public transit needs in Santa Maria and Lompoc in coming years, similar to those taking place now at SBCAG.