Public Transportation Serving The Community

Conserves Energy
Reduces Air Pollution
Increases Economic Vitality
Reduces Traffic Congestion
Provides Mobility for Independent Living
What is BATA Doing to Help?

Conserves Energy

• Saves 855 million gallons of gasoline (or 45 million barrels of oil) each year
• For every mile traveled, public transportation uses about one-half as much fuel as private automobiles, SUVs and light trucks.

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Reduces Air Polution

Public transportation offers the largest opportunity and the most efficient means for making major strides in environmental quality without direct government regulation.According to a recent study at the Brookings Institute, travel by public transportation produces, on average, 95% less carbon monoxide, 90% less volatile organic compounds, and about 45% less carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide as traveling the same distance in an automobile, SUV or light truck.This difference is the result of sheer numbers. One bus carrying 20 passengers will produce far less emissions than 20 cars carrying one person each. In 1998 automobiles, SUVs and light trucks traveled 3,888 billion passenger miles. Buses during the same year accounted for 20.6 billion passenger miles.

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Increases Economic Vitality

What is the cost of oil dependance?

Oil consuming economies incur three types of costs when monopoly power is used to raise prices above competitive market levels

• Loss of potential Gross Domestic Product - the economy's ability to produce is reduced because a key factor of production is more expensive.
• Macroeconomic Adjustment Costs - sudden changes in oil prices increase unemployment, further reducing economic output.
• Transfer of Wealth - Some of the wealth of oil consuming states is appropriated by foreign producers.

Upheavals caused by the OPEC cartel over the last 20 years have cost the U.S. in the vicinity of 7 trillion dollars, an amount about equal to the sum total of the payment on the national debt for the same period.Each of the last 4 OPEC oil shocks have been followed by an economic recession.While the market price of a barrel of oil usually hovers around the thirty dollar mark, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) has calculated that the actual cost of a barrel of oil to the American taxpayer is $128.00. A large part of the nearly $100.00 difference is the cost of maintaining political and economic relationships in the Middle East.Americans will spend, on average, $5500.00 dollars a year to operate an automobile. The 2000 census reports that 57% of American households own two or more automobiles, SUVs or light trucks. Locally, if the 24,000 households in Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties that have multiple cars were to eliminate just one of them and take the bus, it would free up $132,000,000 to be spent on other things. Using public transportation and leaving the car at home boosts the local economy instead of filling foreign bank accounts.

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Reduces Traffic Congestion

In the U.S., average vehicle occupancy has dropped from 1.9 persons in the seventies to 1.6 persons in the nineties. During the same period the number of vehicles operated increased from 98 million to over 200 million and miles traveled rose from 1109 million to 2691 million. From these statistics it becomes apparent that, without changes in the driving habits of the American motorist, traffic congestion will continue to worsen.Public Transportation can be part of the solution.One bus carrying 20 people takes up a lot less space on our highways than do 20 cars carrying one person each.If everyone left his or her car at home just one day a week and rode the bus to work, it would result in a 20% reduction in commuter traffic. That would be noticeable. It does not seem unreasonable that people could plan their travel to accomplish this.

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Provides Mobility For Independent Living

Public transportation has long been considered part of a community's social responsibility to its citizens. There are many who, through disability or age, cannot or choose not to drive. The high cost of vehicle ownership strains the budgets of many families. Children cannot drive until they are 16 years old. Yet all of these people have needs that require mobility and access to educational, vocational, medical, recreational and shopping sites and services. Public transportation, as in the past, provides this important independence. As the America population ages, it becomes increasingly important to maintain a sustained commitment and continued investment in public transportation.There are those that say that public transportation breeds social decay and attracts an "undesirable" element. This is not true. Social problems are a product of the community as a whole and are not created by the presence of a bus system. On the contrary, public transport-ation provides access to jobs and creates opportunities for people that might not otherwise have them. There are others who, because they don't use public transportation, don't think that it needs to be accessible and convenient for anyone else. But an attractive, affordable and popular public transportation system is a benefit to all, as many progressive cities demonstrate.

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What has BATA Been Doing?

In November of 2000 BATA began fixed route bus service in the urbanized areas of Traverse City and Garfield Township. Called the Cherriots, the buses run at frequent intervals with routes that put most residents and businesses in their service area within a 5 minute walk of a bus stop. Since the Cherriots began service more people are riding the bus, many of them leaving their cars at home. With timely service and attractive fares, urban bus usage has increased 9% over FY 2002 through FY 2003. BATA has organized the Alternative Fuel Task Force, a group of area fleet operators that are investigating the use clean, energy saving fuels. Under consideration are bio-diesel, ethanol, compressed natural gas and electric vehicles. BATA has made application for a Federal grant to help replace its current diesel Cherriots with clean and quiet hybrid electric buses.

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