Quick Take
In the wake of a fatal bus crash and a damaging California Highway Patrol report that called UC Santa Cruz transit operations "an imminent threat to public safety," students shared their frustrations at a town hall meeting Friday.
UC Santa Cruz students and student organizations expressed their fears and disappointments about the state of the university’s transit services during a town hall Friday with administrators and the executive director of the campus’ Transportation and Parking Services. About 180 people attended the meeting held in a large classroom on campus – with about 80 people attending via Xoom and about 100 people attending in person.
UCSC’s student body government, known as the Student Union Assembly, organized the meeting so students could engage directly with campus leaders about their concerns following the Dec. 12 bus crash that resulted in the death of driver Dan Stevenson. The incident occurred about four weeks after a bus caught on fire in November, while students and union members say they’ve been calling for safer, newer buses for months.
The Friday meeting followed the release of a report Thursday in which the California Highway Patrol gave UCSC an unsatisfactory rating and classified the transit operation an “imminent threat to public safety,” following its inspection of nine of the university’s 35-foot shuttles. UCSC had requested the report from the CHP.
“These buses are trash. They’re set on fire. Students do not feel safe. They are not timely. They are not efficient,” student Kyle Vergara told the crowd. “How long do we have to wait [for new buses]?”
Several student organizations, including City on the Hill Press, the campus’ student-run newspaper, offered statements as did dozens of students, who made comments and asked the administrators questions during the three-hour town hall.
All of the UCSC administrators who participated in the town hall attended via Zoom. They included Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) Executive Director Dan Henderson, Chief Financial Officer Ed Reiskin, Executive Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration Clement Stokes and Dean of Students Garrett Naiman.
They replied to the students’ demands and questions, and pledged to respond to them. They also emphasized their point that the campus buses in service are safe.
At the start of the town hall, student moderators asked students to not discuss the Dec. 12 bus crash because its cause remains under investigation. UCSC has repeatedly told Lookout that its investigation continues, and that it is unwilling to make any detailed statements in the interim.
“I would like to keep one ground rule within our community guidelines … that in light of the ongoing investigation, we are unable to specifically talk about the bus crash that occurred in December at this time,” said Student Union Assembly President Airielle Silva. “And we will hold TAPS, the University of California, Santa Cruz, accountable when that time comes.”
At the end of the meeting – which started at 4 p.m. – 80 students continued to discuss their concerns in the classroom after the administrators left at 7 p.m.
Throughout the evening, student organization leaders and individual students voiced their frustrations and made demands. Those demands focused on:
- the need for newer buses;
- reduced parking ticket fees;
- more transparency about the TAPS budget;
- better communication among administrators, TAPS and students.
In addition to speaking as an individual student, Vergara read a statement prepared by the Student Union Governance Board — a campuswide student-led board made up of representatives from student governments and centers. In it, the board described how students are experiencing the bus service and specified its demands.
“Student distrust in TAPS has been building for years. Students do not receive safe and timely transportation services even though TAPS takes more than double what other UC campuses charge in mandatory fees,” the statement reads. “If students drive themselves, they must pay more than $500 for a parking permit that doesn’t guarantee parking. If they don’t, they risk getting a $75 ticket that could pay for a week’s worth of groceries.”
In their statement, they shared a chart showing UCSC as charging the highest annual transportation student fees – at $513 – compared to UC Berkeley, whose fee they say is $210.
The statement was endorsed by student groups including the Student Union Assembly, several colleges’ student government bodies including the Cowell and Crown senates, as well as the Black Student Union and Bayanihan (formerly the Filipino Student Association).
The joint statement also demanded that TAPS provide a statement on the Dec. 12 bus crash, that TAPS provide a public plan for bus upgrades and explain why annual student fees haven’t “visibly improved the safety or efficiency” of the shuttle system. In addition, the statement asks TAPS to publicly state how it is supporting drivers. It also requests that asked TAPS respond within a month of the statement’s Jan. 23 release.
Henderson, the parking services executive director, told the crowd that the TAPS office would respond before that deadline and will work on updating its website with more easily accessible budget information.
“I hear you,” he said. “We’re gonna work hard and we’re going to continue to work hard to try to make things better.”
CFO Reiskin, in response to student concerns, emphasized that the campus has resolved the issues mentioned in the CHP report and is focused on student safety.
“I will reiterate that we are absolutely committed to the safety of the transit system in the entire campus. We want students to feel safe,” he said. “We want students to be able to thrive and to do what they came here to do and not to worry about the bus or about crossing the street or about the safety of riding a bike.”
Earlier Friday, Reiskin told Lookout that he was disturbed to read the report, but that the campus is making appropriate changes.
“It was very disturbing to see those findings from their investigation,” he said. “It was very disappointing to see them identify so many issues that we should have been on top of, or that we need to correct, but at the same time, glad to have the feedback on what things that we need to fix.”
At the end of the meeting, SUA President Silva thanked students and administrators for their participation.
“It’s not easy [for students] to be vulnerable, especially [in front of] administration who are impacting their lives,” she said. “But I also know it’s not easy to be accountable when things need to change, and so I’m thankful that you [administrators] all decided to stay.”
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.