Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed 2004-2005 budget would cut funding for AC Transit and BART by $20 million and $9 million, respectively. It would force AC Transit to cut the equivalent of all of its weekend or all of its school service, and BART would have to cut all of its Sunday service.

• Call the Governor today -- it takes just 60 seconds. Click for details.
• Read TALC's letter to the Governor below and get your organization to send a similar letter -- or send one yourself.
• Read our new report! Cutting Transit, Terminating the Economy: Quantifying the economic and social impacts of Governor Schwarzenegger’s transit cuts on the Bay Area.
• We held a rally on June 3rd outside the State Building in Oakland. View the photos and read the articles about the rally.

(For background on the Governor's budget, see the Legislative Analyst's Office analysis.)
 

Call to save AC transit and BART from the Governor's ax

If you don't have time to write letters, you can do something quick and easy to help save AC Transit. Ask your friends to do the same because the numbers will count.

Call the Governor's number: (916) 445-2841. You will be given several options:

• Press #5 for "Hot Issues."
• Press #5 for "the Governors May Revise affecting AC Transit."
• Press #2 to "oppose" the cuts to AC Transit.

You won't get a chance to comment, but your call is still very important.

Background: A broad coalition of community groups as well as elected officials are working to demand that Governor Schwarzenegger reverse the cuts he has proposed to AC Transit, BART and Marin County Transit District. These agencies provide essential service to five Bay Area counties. Together, AC Transit and BART move over 500,000 people every day to school, work, retail and recreation sites and medical appointments. As a consequence, AC Transit would have to cut the equivalent of all of its weekend or all of its school service (AC Transit carries 60,000 school children daily), and BART would have to cut all of its Sunday service. An economic analysis of the service cuts -- part of a new report by TALC -- show that it will reverberate throughout the economy, resulting in a loss of income to low-income families of almost $150 million. Local businesses will also be hit.

For More Information: Contact Stuart at 510-740-3150

Articles about the June 3rd rally to stop the Governor's cuts

• "Rally protests BART, AC transit cuts," Contra Costa Times, June 4, 2004
  
  Scores of protesters converged at the state building downtown Thursday to rally against cuts to BART and AC Transit budgets, saying the losses would leave thousands of Bay Area residents without a ride to work. [Read complete article]



• "Rally to protest Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to Bay Area public transportation," SF Bay Area Independent Media Center, June 3, 2004
  
  People around the state are rising up and speaking out against Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to the state budget. Well over a hundred people rallied outside the State of California Building in downtown Oakland on Thursday to protest the proposed massive cuts to AC Transit, BART and other Bay Area public transportation services. [Read complete article]

Photos from the June 3rd rally to stop the Governor's cuts

Over 100 people attended the rally in front of the State Building in downtown Oakland.
Alan Hollie, Amalgamated Transit Union local 1555	Robert Dhondruip, Alameda County Central Labor Council	Michael Cunningham, Bay Area Council
Dawn Love, LIFETIME	Amiee Chitayat, Community Clinic Consortium of Contra Costa	Rocky Birdsey, Marin Center for Independent Living
boona cheema, Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS)	Rev. Andre Shumake, Richmond Improvement Association	Jeff Hobson, TALC

Cutting Transit, Terminating the Economy:
Quantifying the economic and social impacts of Governor Schwarzenegger’s transit cuts on the Bay Area.

[Download the complete report as a PDF file (170k)]
 

Executive Summary

Governor Schwarzenegger's May Revise of his 2004-05 Budget included a $350 million, two-year property tax shift for from the state’s special districts. Historically, the transit operators in California were exempt from property tax shifts since they were considered “essential services” that could not easily pass on their fare increases without a significant loss of ridership. The May Revise, however, abruptly ends this exemption and instead categorizes them as ”enterprise districts," the same category as water and sewer districts, requiring them to now return approximately 40% of their property tax revenues back to the state for two years.

Over 96% of the cuts to transit districts fall on the Bay Area, with AC Transit standing to lose $20 million a year, and BART standing to lose $9 million a year, for two years. If the Governor’s budget is not revised, BART will have to cut the equivalent of all of its Sunday service, and AC Transit will have to cut the equivalent of all of its weekend service. Both agencies have already significantly pared down their budgets over the last three years and can no longer make cuts that do not directly impact service and reduce the mobility of their riders.

In the governor's budget, the top criterion for spending the newly reinstated Traffic Congestion Relief Program funds is “economic impact, including job creation”. If, in fact, that is the key criterion for the state’s overall transportation investment, then the governor needs to reverse the course of his proposed 2004-05 budget, since it is likely to result in losses of approximately 200 jobs from AC Transit and 30 from BART.

The most devastating result of the potential service cuts may be to AC Transit riders. TALC staff used the methodology and passenger surveys of a 1997 study to calculate the potential cost to AC Transit riders in terms of additional travel expenses, lost income, and additional travel time. We estimate that AC Transit riders alone stand to lose $155.8 million over two years, in addition to the one-time loss to riders of $3.6 million that occurs immediately when service is cut. So for every dollar that the governor proposes to cut from the AC Transit's operating budget, it will cost their riders nearly four times that amount.

In addition to the losses experienced directly by AC Transit riders, the Bay Area economy will lose money as well. As stated previously, investments in transit operations are extremely economically efficient because the investment primarily goes to pay local transit workers, who pump their salaries back into the local economy. Since every $10 million expenditure on transit operations and maintenance triggers a $32 million increase in local business sales, Bay Area businesses can expect to lose $186 million over two years unless the proposed $58 million property tax shift from transit operators to the state is reversed.

Finally, Governor Schwarzenegger recently launched his “Flex Your Power at the Pump” initiative aimed at slowing the State’s consumption of gasoline. How can he expect such initiatives to succeed when at the same time his budget chokes off funding to essential public transit services?

We urge Governor Schwarzenegger and the State Legislature to recognize the devastating consequences the May Revise budget proposal would have on Bay Area children, seniors, workers, and the economy. The FY 2004-05 budget must recognize public transit as an "essential public service" and absolve transit districts’ liability for the property tax shift.

[Open this letter as a Microsoft Word document.]

May 17, 2004


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633


Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

I am writing on behalf of the 90 Bay Area environmental and community groups that are members of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC) to urge you to reverse the cuts you have proposed to AC Transit and BART. These agencies provide essential service to the East Bay community and it is imperative that you exempt public transit from the ERAF (Education Revenue Augmentation Fund) shift proposed in your May budget revision. Together, AC Transit and BART move over 500,000 people every day to school, work, retail and recreation sites and medical appointments. Many of these people have no other transportation alternatives. Your proposal places a disproportionate amount of the burden of the statewide ERAF shift (9%) on the shoulders of Bay Area transit riders.

AC Transit and BART have faced severe budget cuts over the past three years and have taken prudent measures to respond to the economic challenges. They have made significant reductions in expenditures and personnel, deferred capital expenditures and increased fares. AC Transit has already cut 10% of its service in response to the budget crisis. The additional revenue reductions that you have proposed via an ERAF shift -- $20 million for AC Transit and $9 million for BART -- will result in further personnel layoffs and service reductions, decimating critical services by forcing the elimination of routes, many of which are essential for school children, senior citizens, and workers.

As a consequence of your proposal AC Transit would lose 8% of its budget and have to cut the equivalent of all of its weekend or all of its school service (AC Transit carries 60,000 school children daily), and BART would have to cut all of its Sunday service. AC Transit and BART have no other way to recover the cost of the ERAF shift. Further fare increases will only serve to exacerbate ridership decline (putting more cars on the road and decreasing air quality), and drive both districts into deeper deficits.

I urge you to consider the devastating consequences your proposed budget would place on Bay Area children, seniors and workers, and to continue to exempt transit districts from the ERAF shift.

Best regards,


Stuart Cohen
Executive Director

cc: Bay Area Legislative Delegation