Thursday, July 26, 2001

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission's program will give free or reduced bus fare to poor children

By Lisa Vorderbrueggen
Times Staff Writer

OAKLAND -- Some days, 13-year-old John Pointer has to decide whether to eat or take the bus.

He and his four siblings live in El Cerrito with their mother, who can't always afford to give her children both bus fare to school and lunch money.

"If I choose to eat, I have to walk home," said John, his head barely visible over the podium. "I think that's not good."

The young man's poignant speech to the Bay Area's top transportation leaders Wednesday hit home.

Not long after John spoke, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted unanimously to develop a pilot program that would give poor children free or reduced bus passes.

The program will be incorporated in the commission's Regional Welfare to Work Transportation Project, which also was adopted Wednesday.

The idea is to start in a few of the region's poorest school districts, and if successful, it could expand throughout the Bay Area.

"This young man changed my mind," said commissioner and Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty of Livermore. "He spoke from the heart."

It will instill a public transit habit in young people, help low- income families keep their children in school and take a few cars off congested roads, Haggerty said.

The bus pass program was the brainchild of Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond. He quickly garnered support from Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley.

By the time the proposal went before the commission, dozens of environmental groups, elected officials, churches and social justice organizations had sent letters in favor of it.

"This is an opportunity not only to give these kids a ride, but it will give these kids a future," said Vicki Waxman, a psychologist with the West Contra Costa County Unified School District.

Gioia proposed giving bus passes to more than 33,000 middle- and high- school age children in the AC Transit service area who qualify for free or reduced-cost meals at school. A monthly AC Transit pass costs $35.

He wants to reverse high absentee rates among some schools in his district where many poor families run out of money by the end of the month for bus fare to send their children to school.

"No parent should have to make the choice between sending a child to school or buying food," Gioia said.

Meanwhile, schools are losing thousands of state dollars because funding is based on daily attendance numbers, Gioia added.

But while the commission supports helping poor children get to school, the board appears unlikely to shoulder the whole bill.

The agency traditionally provides seed money or 50 percent matches toward various causes, such as its new grant program that provides cash to cities that build housing near public transit.

Most of the money that passes through the commission books goes back to cities and counties, or is spent on a list of board-approved projects listed in the regional transportation plan.

In contrast, Gioia's proposal would cost an estimated $15 million a year and most of the funding would come from the gas taxes under the commission's control.

One commissioner said he expected counties or even school districts to contribute.

"There are many agencies that share in the responsibility to help get kids to school," said commissioner and Contra Costa Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier. "This is a good opportunity for MTC to take a leadership role."

In the next month, commission staff members will develop a recommendation to the full board on how to select the schools to participate in the pilot project and who will pay for it.

"This is a new territory in terms of an (agency like the commission) being asked to directly subsidize this kind of program," said Ann Flemer, director of operations for the commission. "In the past, these kinds of programs have been funded by transit districts. We have a lot of research to do."

The commission will debate the concept further later this summer when it votes on the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan, the Bay Area's 25- year spending plan for transportation.

Lisa Vorderbrueggen covers transportation and land-use issues. Reach her at 925-045-4773