A truly successful public transit system
What a long way we have come since the early 2000s, when I served as a city councilor who helped establish what we know today as the North Central Regional Transit District. It was, of course, a lengthy process, and when it was signed into law as the Regional Transit Act in 2003, I couldn’t have been more excited and proud of government in action.
Fast forward to last year when the the transit district experienced record ridership of a 6.1 percent increase with more than 500,000 passenger trips annually. These numbers are even more impressive when you hear that the national trend saw an average decrease in ridership of 5.7 percent. We have truly created a successful public transit system that is thriving in more ways than one. When government sees a need and creates a system to help fix the need, which individuals actually support and utilize, we can all call it a success.
Another notable success of the transit district’s existence is that it helps lower our carbon footprint. We are taking care of our largest asset when we utilize public transportation — the environment. By saving greenhouse gasses, we are significantly protecting Mother Nature.
Cars are off the roads in increasing numbers, and this saves taxpayer dollars that may have been needed on road construction and maintenance if public transit were not an option. Individuals have the unique ability to move around here in New Mexico and get done what they need to get done, even if they don’t have the luxury of owning their own vehicle, or if they simply choose to use public transit. I say “unique” because as a very rural state, it is unique to have such a high-functioning public transit system.
Since our population here is so spread out, it does cost more to run the buses than in other states that might have a population that lives in closer proximity to one another. The service area of our transit district is over 10,000 miles — to put it in perspective, that is more than the entire state of Maryland. It is not uncommon for someone in our region to have a commute of 50 to 60 miles one way to get to work every day.
The fact is, these miles are expensive and cause a lot of wear and tear on buses, not to mention the cost of gas and paying professional drivers a proper wage. The transit district takes all of that into account and uses its funds responsibly and well.
Additionally, did you know that taxes paid for the transit district also fund local transit services such as the Rail Runner train, the Atomic City bus service in Los Alamos and Santa Fe Trails in the city of Santa Fe? The district’s impact expands much further than the Blue Bus system that most of us know.
Public transit is important and critical to Northern New Mexico. Think about the population who have been depending on it. Where are they going to go, and what are they going to do to get around, if public transit is taken away? If we don’t vote to support the transit district with its current funding system, the effects will be detrimental to the future of public transit as we know it.