ADVOCATES FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT — CALPIRG’s Emily Rusch and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa discuss the need to expand buses, light rail, and trains services after a LA Metro Board meeting in August.

What’s Next For Public Transit

CALPIRG’s campaign to Keep Transit on Track faced a disappointing setback this summer when the Legislature agreed to cut more than $1.2 billion in public transit funds in the budget.

CALPIRG had directly lobbied more than half of the members of the state Legislature and spoken out in the media and written editorials for newspapers. Additionally, legislators received thousands of letters and phone calls from concerned members.

Clearly, a bigger, sustained campaign will be needed for California to build the worldclass transportation infrastructure to meet the needs of California’s growing population. Here is where CALPIRG is focusing our efforts this fall:

1. We are working closely with public transit champions, like Assemblymember Mike Feuer, to make sure we set aside more state funding for public transit in future state budgets.

2. Los Angeles County and the Bay Area, among other regions, are putting together long-term transportation plans this fall. We are advocating that the available public transit funds are invested in worthy local projects.

3. Through our outreach staff and materials we are building public support for the high speed rail, which will be ready to begin construction upon passage of a statewide ballot measure in November 2008.