Increases in Fares and Decreases in Services – MST's Plight Today
Apparently coming from a nearly
affordable fare structure recently MST has started to be affected by
gas prices and responded by increasing fares and decreasing services.
Is this really the best approach or direction MST can go? And if not
what is a better option?
Public Transportation has always been
something I have been avid supporter of but recently I have become
more and more disenfranchised with the current state of the public
transportation system of MST which is the specific public transport
system here in Salinas and Surrounding. This is coming from a student
who attends a school that is about a two hour commute from my house. I have always used and counted on MST to get me where I needed to
go at a price I could afford. Things certainly have changed, and not
always for the best instead it seems they have changed for the worse
with decreases in service and increases in fares. Though it also
presents an example, of how influential gas prices can really be
across all types of transportation systems, presenting the quandary that the only way to break from the grips of the Oil companies is to
truly find an option that is separate from their system of control.
The question is what and how? The options by first comparison seem to
be few and far between yet there must be a better option whether it
be reverting back to Organic Diesel or a type of Hybrid for the buses
so that there is less reliance on gas but not a complete
disconnection from it. The other challenge is to convert the current
fleet of buses to an alternative with the minimal amount of cost. Of
course easier said then done but at the very least the seed can be
planted and allowed to ferment in people to understand more options
about alternatives to the flawed gas system. Beyond that though such
ideas need to be well researched and put into a business plan to be
presented to the board of MST as a possible solution to their
financial difficulties. The presentation on such a plan of change
also needs to be well prepared for, so that it reaches the most
amount of people who are affected by it including the students who
attend the local colleges including, Hartnell, Cabrillo, CSUMB, MPC
and others. The first step of course is to get enough of these
students, riders and people to recognize there is a problem and that
uniting together for a much needed change may be the answer to this
particular situation we are in. To do that of course, like anything
requires education, in informing the people of the reality of the
problem and how it affects everyone. By the knowledge that it is
affecting everyone more will realize the same thing I have come to
understand from being a regular rider of the bus system between
Salinas and Watsonville along with other students who make that same
commute day by day can attest to how difficult it is to afford their
education and the cost that is needed just to make the commute day by
day. It can be said that I speak for all riders since anyone who uses
alternative transportation is also very much affected. In an economy
where many people still struggle it provides additional information
to incite some type of change and improvement on the overall
situation across the board in all things that affect us as a society.
No matter the background of the people we are part of the same whole,
we are all affected when the economy seems to tank or it appears as
if we are being taken advantage of by a system we put ourselves in.
With so many cars on the road, the result of so much commercial
intervention in this sensory overloaded society.
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