Green Buses or Regular?

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WHEELS ON THE BUS: They go ’round and ’round, and so do conversations about proposed MTD bus district service cuts — but “not major ones,” contends bus district GM Sherrie Fisher. The biggest issue shaping up for the MTD board hearing on Wednesday, May 6, may be whether to buy 10 new diesel buses or a smaller number of hybrids, which Fisher says run about $225,000 more apiece.

“We want to be green,” Fisher said, pointing out that with $4.5 million in federal stimulus funds expected, the district can’t afford 10 hybrids. Unless, she said, grants the MTD is seeking come through.

On the Beat

Look, I go back to the 1960s, when the Spreitz family ran little putt-putt buses around town, like the ones in The Graduate. But then a con man came to town, bought the bus company, and ran it into the ground in short order. The drivers weren’t being paid. His whole thing was a mess and the MTD was formed. Now, passengers make 8.4 million trips a year. The district stretches from the Ventura County line to Winchester Canyon.

But wait. If fare hikes that went into effect in January figure to bring in $1.2 million a year, why the need to pare service to balance the operating budget? That, Fisher said, is because the State of California is hurting and now contributing zero, zilch, nada to the MTD — a loss of about $700,000. True, she acknowledged, diesel fuel rates are down from the recent peaks, but still higher than past years.

Along with some cuts (details at sbmtd.gov) there are also expansions on some lines. Sometimes socio-economic trends show up first in the buses, as seen in the heavier demand for classes at Santa Barbara City College. Where one bus used to handle the morning I.V.-City College run, it now takes four, Fisher said. Last summer, 1,392 were enrolled. This summer, college officials expect 2,121. One explanation: With the recession, people see the need for more education to qualify for jobs.

The stimulus money, restricted to capital projects, not operations, will also buy four ticket-vending machines at $50,000 each. A separate federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant will buy three new bio-diesel-electric hybrids for the new Isla Vista shuttle and support the shuttle for three years. It replaces Line 27, running between the UCSB campus, Isla Vista, and the Camino Real Marketplace.

Of the service cuts, the one getting most comments is Line 8, which runs from the downtown S.B. transit center to the Fairview Avenue area. After the County Health stop, there’s low ridership, so that section will see only occasional service under the staff proposal, effective August 24, Fisher said.

WATER RATE DUSTUP: Carpinterian Ann Louise Bardach and others are mounting a petition drive opposing “outrageous Carpinteria Water District rates.” They’re circulating a petition aimed at defeating any rate hike for a year. “Your rates charges are the highest in the county, and, we’re told, in the country!” and are due for another hike, protesters tell residents.

TRAVELIN’ MAN: Bill Tomicki, publisher of the luxury Entrée newsletter and a longtime world traveler, is the Montecito Journal’s new travel columnist. The former columnist, David Goldman, died recently at 70.

THEFT FROM NUNS: Denise D’Sant Angelo, charged with stealing $2,800 in community donations meant for three nuns, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing, but before it started she wanted to fire her public defender and seek a private attorney. The prelim was delayed. Then, on April 22, she told Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa that she hadn’t found an attorney. But Judge Ochoa, perhaps irked at playing ring-around-the-courtroom, set a preliminary hearing for Wednesday, May 6, at 10:30 a.m., regardless. She’ll either have her own attorney or be represented by a public defender, at taxpayers’ expense.

ROOFTOP HIGHS: May’s Travel & Leisure lists eight of its favorite rooftop bars but (waah!) didn’t mention the one at our Canary Hotel. The Clarendon (20-foot water wall and hydro spa that holds 20 people) in Phoenix offers a specialty drink we could adopt for Fiesta: horchata (the traditional Mexican rice-based drink) and Kahlua.

NO WHINING: In the County Courthouse, where sad tales of murder, mayhem, and uncivil suits normally echo, the second annual Santa Barbara Wine Futures filled the corridors Saturday evening, April 25, with the sounds of clinking glasses, and knives and forks slicing into food from the nearby Elements Restaurant.

HOT STRINGS IN VENTURA: What does Ventura have that Santa Barbara doesn’t? Well, for one thing, a top-notch annual concert music wing-ding. The Ventura Music Festival marks its 15th season with such world-famous artists as the Jerusalem String Quartet, the Romero Family, trumpeter Chris Botti, and David Krakauer’s Acoustic Klezmer Project.

NP CIRC DROP: Nationally, daily newspaper circulation dropped about 7 percent in the past year, as the painful trend continues, but the drop was worse at the Santa Barbara News-Press. According to blogger Craig Smith, average daily circulation shrank by about 10 percent, down 3,486 copies to 31,575.

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