Published Friday, May 9, 2003
By Lisa Vorderbrueggen

OAKLAND -- Faced with layoffs and deep service cuts, Bay Area transit
unions have for the first time banded together in a campaign to pump
more money into public transportation.

The fledgling TransitWorks will lobby for the proposed $1 bridge toll
hike, greater transit investments in local sales tax programs and a 5-
cent regional gas tax for transit operations and road repairs.

At its debut public event Thursday, TransitWorks staged a tongue-in-
cheek bake sale and hawked homemade cookies, frosted cupcakes and
brownies outside BART stations.

To rescue public transit this year, every man, woman and child in the
Bay Area would have to buy nearly 150 25-cent brownies.

"Clearly, we're not going to save transit with a bake sale," said
Norma Del Mercado, president of one of BART's unions. "But we need to
make sure that the community has transportation services available
that are good for both the residents and the workers."

Transit-dependent residents and the men and women who operate Bay
Area buses, trains and ferries have a great deal at stake.

Nearly every public transit operator in the Bay Area has or likely
will cut service, lay off workers or raise fares. Every Contra Costa
County and east Alameda County bus service must deal with a deficit.

Ridership has declined and sales taxes have plunged. They are the
primary sources of cash for the $1.5 billion a year Bay Area public
transit industry.

Consider these cost-saving proposals:

* BART may lay off 25 people in the next few months, raise fares 10
percent on Jan. 1 and levy a fare surcharge to help pay for seismic
and other repairs.

* Among 30 route cuts under consideration at AC Transit, is one that
would withdraw $1 million in matching funds for a free school bus
pass program that served 25,000 school children in Alameda and West
Contra Costa County this year.

* County Connection is reviewing dozens of cuts that could reduce or
eliminate weekend and evening service throughout central Contra Costa
County.

* Wheels in the Tri-Valley is considering a hike in its FareBuster
ticket and combining several routes.

* WestCAT in West Contra Costa County dipped into its reserves this
year but expects to make cuts later this summer.

Historically, unions have played a strong role in transit policy and
funding, but Bay Area labor groups typically lobby lawmakers
individually.

The sustained economic downturn coupled with legislators' tendency to
fund high-profile new service such as BART to the San Francisco
International Airport instead of existing operations fueled the
creation of TransitWorks.

County sales tax initiatives with big dollars for transit in Contra
Costa, Alameda and Solano counties, along with the bridge toll hike
proposal also helped galvanize the unions.

The Oakland-based environmental and social justice group, the
Transportation and Land Use Coalition, along with the UC Berkeley
Labor Center have joined the coalition.

TransitWorks sent nine packed buses recently to Sacramento to lobby
for the bridge toll bill, sponsored by labor supporter Sen. Don
Perata, D-Alameda.

With 27 transit agencies and dozens of unions that represent the
workers, the Bay Area transit field is highly Balkanized, said John
Dalrymple, Contra Costa Labor Council president and a TransitWorks
founder.

"We recognize that it's in our best interest to lobby as a coalition
for more public transit investment," Dalrymple said. "We have to find
more money."

Lisa Vorderbrueggen covers transportation and growth. Reach her at
925-945-4773 or lvorderb@cctimes.com