Why this cyclist is voting for VIA

I know that this is going to make some of my readers mad, but it must be done. I understand that most of the Cycling community is against this but all of you should be for ATD Proposition A when you go vote for a President and here's why....

Can't use the trails after dark:
I hear constantly from my fellow cyclist that the trail system should be a part of an overall network for bicycle transportation. That's sounds great until you eventually learn that it's illegal to use the Linear Creekways after dark, Sec. 22-28. Public parks hours of operation and curfew. I have heard of several instances of people trying to use the Leon Creek after dark only only to be kicked off the trail and ticketed. I have been lucky enough to only to be kicked off the Salado Creek Greenway once by Park Police and told not to go through Los Patios which I promptly stopped. I would prefer to have overnight bus service over being ticket for using the safe way after dark. Also, these trails are located in a flash flood zone so no using them in the rain.

Sec. 22-28. Public parks hours of operation and curfew.

(e) Notwithstanding subsection (a), parks designated as natural areas by the director of parks and recreation and parks developed as part of the Linear Creekway Parks development program (Leon Creek, Salado Creek, Medina River) shall be closed for all purposes each day at sunset, or after events scheduled by the department of parks and recreation are completed, and will re-open each day at sunrise.

VIA Biggest Problem:
I wrote back in 2015 that compared to others transit agencies, VIA has its act together and does things more efficiently than other transit agencies. A good example of this of the cost of operating bus service. VIA cost of buses per mile is a little over $2 while in Dallas, Austin and Houston cost per mile is over $5 and VIA have the lowest fares in the state. After all this, VIA still doesn't have the money to have overnight bus service, more Primo routes and expand its VIALink to more neighborhoods where because of cul-de-sacs, operating fixed route buses strains their budget. And if you don't believe me, I'll leave you this link to a story written back in 2018 explaining VIA's budget woes.

Funding Options Limited:
Unlike transit systems in other states, the state of Texas is one of only three states thats don't fund local transit from the state coffers. The two other states that do this are Ohio and Arkansas I think. The only way VIA gets the funding it needs is through a local sales tax. Unlike Austin, Houston and Dallas, VIA doesn't receive the 1¢ sales tax. If ATD Prop A passes, VIA's funding will increase to 3/4¢ sales tax.

Myths people believe about VIA:

Now I've heard so many myths about VIA that I know are going to be used as an excuse not to vote for ATD Prop A. They range from VIA don't need the money to VIA drives around empty buses and they're a waste of money. Let me explain......

VIA don't need the money: this myth ranges from they (VIA) earns all they need through the fare box to they waste all the money given to them. None of this is true. Annually (pre Covid-19) VIA's fare box collection is roughly $18 million while the entire operation budget is well over $120 million. Compare that to Austin which regularly receives over $220 million annually. And they do all this with having some of the lowest fares in the State.

Empty Buses: this myth isn't exclusive to VIA for every transit agency in NORTH AMERICA has to deal with this myth head on. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) did a video on this explaining why people think that all they drive are empty buses. In reality, ridership varies just as the same a road use varies. The difference is, people don't complain that Broadway is a waste at 3am when the stroad is deserted.

Smaller vehicles myth: this myth goes like this; "VIA should save money by operating vans instead of buses during off peaks times." In the video I posted above, they talk about how running smaller vehicles will actually increase cost, not lessen it. Buses are designed to have a life span of up to 12 years even longer compared to a van that will probably is only designed to last up to 5 years. In the blog Human Transit post, "What’s Wrong with an Empty Bus?", they said and quote:

"So transit agencies are smart to run the biggest bus they will ever need, even though that means the bus will be empty at some hours, or on some parts of the route, or even on some days when demand is lower. They may even run a bigger bus than a route ever needs, because there are also massive inefficiencies in having too many different kinds of buses. Smart agencies have thought this through and what they are doing, in my experience, mostly makes sense."

Buses aren't Green: I heard this this myth with many so called "environmentalists" who apparently are repeating what Randall O'Toole or Wendell Cox said. The question that I have to these environmentalist is why are you repeating what an climate denier said? Buses aren't "green" because most of them use a diesel engine. They are green because when several people use the same vehicle instead of several different vehicles, you reduce the emissions from several sources to one.

Then there's the fact that cars are asleep 95% of the time parked in parking spot. Parking lots are acres of impervious cover for storm water and this is a negative environmental impact here in South Texas. Not only does impervious cover prevent water going into the Edwards aquifer, but it leads to flash flooding being worse. Now this gets into the next myth....

Better off with everyone driving: The people who believe in this myth have really never thought critically about everyone having to drive. They never realized that cars aren't used most of the time requiring storage space, aka, parking lots. Parking lots are impervious cover to storm water runoff and cause flooding. Then there's the fact that some people aren't able to afford a car. But most of all, they never take into account of the "idiot driver." The driver who cut you off, the driver who tail gated you, the driver who sat at the light when the light was green, the driver who ran a stop sign, the driver who drove slow in the left lane, and (my favorite) the driver who didn't use their blinker. I know that you're laughing, but you also know that I'm right. Here's the thing, Covid-19 is already reducing the budget of every transit agency including VIA. Do you really want the people who can't afford car to be driving? These are the people who put into practice the art of figuring out how long they can keep driving their cars without changing the oil, fixing the headlights or worse, not fixing the brakes. If these people are putting off needed maintenance, chances are they don't have the money to buy car insurance. Now I ask the people who commutes by bicycle or ride bicycles on the road do you want these drivers on the road, or do you want them on a VIA bus? And judging by the recent car crash into the Salado Creek Greenway, what makes you think that they'll leave the Greenways alone?

Final myth, technology will save us: Do you know that you'll be taking a driverless car to work in 20 years? I have a better question, when was the first time you ever heard that Fusion generators would be powering America in 20 years? Chances are you first heard about the 20 year timeline about Fusion back in the 80s. Today we talking about Wind and Solar powering our future, not 'FUSION'. It's funny that I'm seeing similar stories come across my feed about driverless cars. Apparently the technology won't be available for decades to come. In the meantime, those "idiot drivers" that I mentioned earlier will be on the road causing mayham and people who can barely afford a car now won't be able to afford an electric car.

Now what more is there to say, for I cannot think of anything else. Personally I would like to focus on more bicycle infrastructure issues but as long as VIA is under funded, I will continue to devote this blog to VIA's funding deficit problem. What people need to understand, to really reduce traffic congestion, you need to have choices in transportation. The choices can't be, electric car, Uber car, taxi, carpool and a van. They have to be and in order of top priority to least, Walking, Bicycle, Transit, and least priority, Car.