It’s not the fare that keeps us off the bus

Tuesday, April 7, 1998

It’s not the fare that keeps us off the bus

TRANSPORTATION: People need incentives to ride instead of drive
to UCLA

By Tiffani Chin

The other day, as I stepped off the Blue Bus at the UCLA
turnaround, I was greeted by two students who eagerly handed me a
flyer, "Fare-free transit for students, staff and faculty." The
flyer referred to an article run on these pages a couple of months
ago by Jeffrey Brown and Donald Shoup, some people from the Urban
Planning Department ("Everyone Must Find Another Way to UCLA, Nov.
24, 1997), and asked us to e-mail the UCLA Transportation Service
and ask for free bus service. Now, as someone who had just paid 50
cents to ride the bus, it seemed to me a reasonable place to be
passing out these flyers. Who isn’t in favor of getting stuff they
are already paying for for free?

But in the end, it looks like both Brown and Shoup and those two
students who were trying to sell free bus fare to bus riders were
missing the point. The grander issue here is (as Brown and Shoup
did point out) that too many of us drive to campus. The fact that
after 7:30 in the morning you can’t even give UCLA $5 to park,
illustrates this point perfectly. There are too many cars, not
enough parking spaces, and a bus system that for the most part gets
ignored.

But, do you really think it’s the 50 cents that keeps people off
the bus?

Granted, the $ l.25 it takes to ride MTA is too much money, and
I would love it if the university would subsidize that fare. But a
dollar each way on the Blue Bus? Give me a break. It’s a hell of a
lot better than the wear and tear on my car, the gas I waste
sitting in traffic, not to mention either $5 a day or $129 a
quarter for a parking pass! Let’s face it, the 50 cents is not the
issue. Frankly, I’m happy to pay the City of Santa Monica for what
I feel is really good service.

The larger issue here is convincing people to ride the bus in
the first place. I know. I spent my first year in grad school
leaving my house (in West L.A.!) 40 minutes early so I would have
time to drive around and scour the village for street parking
before capitulating and paying the $5 to park on campus. All this
while the Blue Bus’ 3 Line ran within two blocks of my house. It
wasn’t until this year, when street parking and pay parking became
impossible and I missed a class simply because I couldn’t find a
place to put my car, that I decided to brave the bus. And yes,
brave it is what it felt like.

Look, I grew up in the ‘burbs. For those of you not familiar
with it, people just don’t take the bus in Orange County. The one
time I tried it (with my grandma, she was from out of town and
didn’t know any better) we got hideously lost trying to get to the
mall! For me, busses were slow, smelly, lumbering vehicles, where
you would be lucky not to end up sitting next to a crazy person.
Beyond that, how would I ever figure out which one to ride? My
excuses were endless.

But, when I bucked up the courage and rode the bus (it turns out
that all the Blue Busses that go by my house are headed for UCLA),
it was an extremely pleasant experience. Not only did I get from my
door to campus in 14 minutes (it wasn’t rush hour – but even when
it is, it’s a huge improvement over my park and walk strategy), but
the bus cut-off about 20 cars merging on to Wilshire, and I didn’t
even have to feel guilty about it!

The thing is, I’m not against subsidizing the Blue Bus. I think
it’s a great idea. But do something constructive with the money.
Giving us a free ride will only give back a couple of dollars a
week to those of us who already ride the bus. What we need are more
lines, more times, and more buses. (The 3 Line is only every 20
minutes, and the 1 Line gets so packed at rush hour that sometimes
it doesn’t stop for people.)

And, before that will do you much good, you have to get some
people on the bus! Inform students, make bus schedules and maps
easily available and give them an incentive. How about (and this
harkens back to the year we got free ice cream to vote in the
student elections) a free cafe latte or ice cream if we ride the
bus during a particular week?

It’s not the money that’s keeping students off the bus. It’s the
bus. It’s the image of the bus and the inconvenience and
"scariness" that goes with it. The only way we’re going to get more
students on the bus and fewer in the parking lots is to show them
that it’s better. So, make it better and then prove it to them. If
it works the way it did for me, other students will be happy to pay
the 50 cents as well.