• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Santa Fe, N.M., City Employees Ditch Cars for Happier Trails

Posted on: Monday, 25 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Jul. 23--At first, the bus schedule intimidated her. The foldout chart and map seemed complicated. But now Joyce Bond knows the ropes on Santa Fe Trails. She's one of several city employees riding the municipal bus system to work this summer instead of parking her car in a lot next to her downtown office.

More city workers are getting a taste of public transportation, while archaeologists tear up a parking lot adjoining City Hall to explore the site of a planned civic center and underground parking garage.

Fare boxes on the city's fleet of natural-gas-powered buses recorded twice as many trips by city employees this month than last. While other riders pay between 50 cents and $1 each way, city employees ride free.

Bond, who wrote the advertising plan for Santa Fe Trails a few years ago, had never set foot on a city bus until Monday.

Santa Fe, like other sprawling American cities, has struggled to create a system that will lure people out of their cars as well as provide a lifeline for those lacking transportation of their own.

The tourist season and summer vacation for school-age residents boosts ridership on the transit system each year. But despite record-high gas prices this summer, transit specialist Casey Padilla said overall ridership hasn't shown any significant increase.

The 48,839 bus trips recorded in June was up a mere 0.2 percent from the same month a year ago. "I don't think too many people are ready to give up their vehicles," Padilla said.

When the archaeological dig took away 70 parking spaces, it was only fair to ask city employees who parked in the downtown lot to leave their cars and trucks elsewhere, said Bond, marketing director for the city Public Works Department.

Some are parking at the Fort Marcy Complex, just north of the downtown, and riding a shuttle.

Bond, however, drives three miles from her home to a parking lot in the West Capitol Complex off Camino Carlos Rey at Cerrillos Road and then rides the Route 2 bus straight into downtown. She asked transit officials to help her plan her first trip, a service they provide to anyone who calls.

Bond intends to ride public transit through most of the civic-center disruption, which could be two years if the project makes it to the construction phase.

"I like the bus. It's good to look around and see the city," she said. "Every once in a while you need your car to go to the bank or run errands. Everybody has to find their own niche. But for the most part, riding the bus is working well."

Taking the bus is nothing new for City Councilor David Coss, even though council members can still park in the City Hall lot when they desire.

Coss, a southwest-side councilor who plans to run for mayor next year, said he has been riding the bus to his downtown job at the State Land Office most days since Santa Fe Trails started running in 1992.

Lately, he rides a bicycle from his home in Casa Alegre, but Coss expects to ditch the bike for the bus when the weather cools off again.

"I would encourage everybody who can to think of how they can commute on the bus or take their bikes and leave their car at home," Coss said. "One of the biggest problems we have downtown is too many cars. ... You get a really good feeling when you see people cruising around looking for a parking place, and you don't have to."

Padilla, the city transit specialist, said it's good for the system to pick up more city-employed riders, even if it doesn't bring in more revenue.

"I've talked to people who say, 'Once I started taking the bus, I decided I was going to park my pickup that was getting eight miles per gallon,'" Padilla said. "And they decided they would continue using the bus because it meets their needs."

-----

To see more of The Santa Fe New Mexican, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://ww.santafenewmexican.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Santa Fe New Mexican

More News in this Category