Planes Trains and Automobiles

Scotts Valley Mayor’s Address

By Dene Bustichi

This will be the first of a three part series over the coming months to provide you with information and activities of your city, call it if you will, a Mayor’s address or State of the City. It is presented to you either to inform you or to create debate and action on issues that effect our great little city.

This first part, titled Planes, Trains, and Automobiles covers the many forms of transportation.

Planes

Many may have noticed we have increased and louder airplane noise in the northern part of our city thanks to the FAA and the new SERFR flight path which has changed the route of planes over the northern part of our city and has created louder and more frequent flights.

The County and City were, in my opinion, mislead by the FAA and were told there would be no impact to our city, this is clearly not true.

“What can we do?” you may ask.

I, along with other representatives, have met with representatives of the FAA. The meeting was informative but not very productive. We were told that the FAA is not likely to go back to the old flight path but possibly could make changes to the current new flight path. Our short-term hope and goal is to increase altitude and reduce and or eliminate air braking over Santa Cruz County.

There is a great Organization called SAVE OUR SKIES;   they are well organized and working hard to make positive changes in the current flight path. If you are interested in more info or to get involved, please go to SOSSantaCruz.org for more information. I will continue to do what I can on this issue and hope to see some change in the near future.

Trains

The Regional Transportation Commission or RTC of Santa Cruz County has some hard choices to make on transportation in the County. Council Member Johnson and I have spent many years on this commission and, while there are great folks on this commission, I fear the priorities have shifted so much that future real transportation will be hindered for years to come.

The RTC is looking to put a tax measure on the Ballot next year for transportation needs, including rail, throughout the county. The question to you all is how should we spend our money and on what in the future?

A commuter train from Watsonville to Santa Cruz would take an hour to get from one terminus to the other, not including drive time to the train station. The estimated cost to build is about $159 million but could be closer to $250 million and cost $6.9 million to operate each year.

The rail right of way is a great opportunity to create a rail/trail through our county but with a commuter train running regularly this will for the most part be impossible.

Automobile

Repair of streets and roads is a big issue. Every city and the county has a big backlog of streets needing repairs and improvements.

Widening Highway 1 with HOV lanes (A high-occupancy vehicle lane for carpools and mass transit buses). This would increase the capacity of the most used corridor in our County. The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District is in favor of HOV lanes to allow buses to move from Watsonville to Santa Cruz on time and be a more reliable service.

Increasing Bus service. The Santa Cruz Metro is in a structural and financial deficit and is looking to reduce service. The most vulnerable in our county rely on this service. Can we really afford to cut service to these people?

It’s important to note that ALL taxpayers heavily subsidize ANY public transportation. Even if you NEVER ride the bus or use any public transportation, you are paying for it and your opinion matters.

While I drive a ‘72 Chevy Blazer, some may think I am not very progressive when it comes to transportation. But as Board Chair of the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District for the past 2 years, I have pushed for more and cleaner energy sources when it comes to our bus system. We have CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) buses and will be using grants to start purchasing our first fleet of electric buses. I feel that the future of transportation is cleaner fuel sources for vehicles and buses that allow us to move freely through our county.

However, riding on a diesel train that can only travel on tracks built in the 1800’s does not sound very progressive to me.

Thank you for you interest and please look for next month’s edition of the Mayor’s Address.