Any Angelino who has braved the 405 Freeway during rush hour
must have wondered why so many people have to drive.
But a better question might be, “Why shouldn’t
they?”
In the sprawling, car-centric city UCLA students call home,
driving remains the transportation method of choice for most.
While a myriad of factors influence whether a person uses public
transit, the key categories are often cost and convenience.
While Los Angeles may not be a model of alternative
transportation, other cities is the United States have developed
effective systems.
The city of Davis has earned national recognition for its
commitment to the environment and for developing alternatives to
single-occupant driving.
Anthony Palmere, manager of Unitrans ““ the city’s
student-run bus system ““ said people may try public
transportation for different reasons but will only continue to use
it if it is convenient.
“Convenience will always be the key factor to whether or
not people use public transportation,” Palmere said.
Palmere said some cities are ideally situated for public transit
systems, and others make driving a more attractive option.
Because the area Unitrans services is high-density and compact,
public transit or walking are naturally more appealing than
driving.
Since the distance between bus stops is short ““ a person
does not have to walk far to get to a bus stop ““ and the
service area is small, most trips are relatively short by bus.
Palmere said because Los Angeles is so large, it is very
difficult to build effective bus systems, but he noted the city
does have smaller, dense corridors in which public transit is
widely utilized.
In fact, three Southern California lines made the 10 top-ranked
bus systems in the United States: lines in Long Beach, Santa
Barbara, and the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, according to a report
written by Brian Taylor, director of the UCLA Institute of
Transportation Studies and an urban studies professor.
Taylor’s report highlighted Long Beach’s system for
its increasing ridership levels.
The report cites a number of factors influencing how many people
use public transportation and items and costs associated with
driving ““ car ownership, gas prices and parking availability
and costs as well as traffic congestion levels.
The report cited a 1995 San Francisco County Transportation
study that found when parking costs 20 to 30 percent more than
transit fares, people choose the bus instead of their cars.
Economic factors influence the attractiveness and the use of
public transportation as an alternative to driving, said Donald
Shoup, professor of urban studies and a major proponent of
BruinGo!.
BruinGo! is a campus program that allows anyone with a valid
BruinCard to ride the Santa Monica and Culver City bus lines on
week days during the school year for a reduced fare of $0.25.
Shoup said after a student has purchased a parking permit the
cost of parking is essentially zero because the student can park
without additional charge as many times as he wants. Riding the
bus, though, costs students $0.25 per ride.
As students with a permit can basically park for free but would
have to spend money to use BruinGo!, they will choose to drive,
Shoup added.
Shoup proposed that UCLA adopt a system using in-vehicle meters
““ devices that record the amount of time the car is parked in
a campus parking lot ““ and charge based on the time the car
is actually parked.
In-vehicle meters are used by several other universities,
including the University of Oregon.
Transportation Services did not adopt the proposal.
“Given the current pricing system, UCLA will never have
enough parking spaces because the problem is not a shortage of
spaces,” Shoup said.
“Constructing expensive new parking places and
undercharging for them is like feeding pigeons: The more spaces you
build, the more cars will come to fill them, and there will always
be a shortage,” he added.