The Unmet Transit Needs season is once again upon us. This is an annual reminder that the holidays are over, a new year underway, and state money for public transportation will be fought over: $14 million in Transit Development Act (TDA) sales taxes for Santa Barbara County. The South Coast transit agency, MTD, will receive its portion ($7 million) and use it to provide transit services. Two jurisdictions in North County—where there is no independent transit agency—will attempt to divert one half of their transit money to road maintenance under the pretext that “there are no unmet transit needs reasonable to fund.”
Transit services in North County are contracted out by the governments of Lompoc, Santa Maria, and the county. If Santa Maria Area Transit (SMAT) or City of Lompoc Transit (COLT) were autonomous agencies, they would apply and receive their full share of TDA funds. As it is, they are forced to compete for dwindling resources within bureaucracies that are traditionally biased against public transportation. Statistics and transit dependency factors (income level, number of vehicles per household, race) indicate an overwhelming latent demand for public transportation, but this is something that you will not likely hear from our representatives at the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) when it comes time to take action.
SBCAG will hold its annual Unmet Transit Needs hearing on Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. in the County Government Center in Santa Maria (511 East Lakeside Parkway). This is the annual public hearing required by the state to document transit needs in areas where state transit funds are used for something else. In the past, public outcry at this diversion of funds resulted in expanded transit services, a new bus connecting Lompoc to Santa Maria, and funding for vanpools for agricultural workers.
Furthermore, in 2008 for the first time ever, the City of Santa Maria used all of its TDA funds for transit, and it will do this again in 2009. This is a great victory for public transportation and an example for Lompoc and the county to follow.
Those who cannot attend are encouraged to put their comments on the record by contacting SBCAG at 961-8900 or comment@sbcag.org.
Find more information at coast-santabarbara.org.
This article appears in Jan 15-22, 2009.
