By Vic Cox

The Transportation Alternatives Board (TAB) met on Nov. 19 for the first time this fall to welcome the new Transportation and Parking Services director, Robert Defendini, discuss Chancellor Henry Yang’s responses to TAB’s 2006-07 recommendations, and to hear an update on the Transportation Alternative Program (TAP).

Re-elected TAB Chair Bruce Kendall went through the advisory board’s 13 recommendations to the chancellor, some of which were accepted and others referred to appropriate administrators for further research and/or action. Financing TAP benefits were a primary focus.

Principal among the accepted actions were a $21 a month TAP subsidy for members who ride a bus 20 miles or more to work; vanpool vans will be able to accept appropriate sponsors, with revenues supporting the vanpool program; average parking ticket fines will rise from $40 to $45; and half of the chancellor’s allocation to Transportation and Parking Services (T&PS) is to go to the TAP budget, with TAP reimbursing the parking operations budget for free parking provided to TAP members.

Other financial recommendations included establishing a system of “modest fare increases” for vanpool riders that is to be linked to UCSB salary increases. That suggestion was sent to Donna Carpenter, vice chancellor administrative services, “for further analysis and discussion with the TAB,” wrote the chancellor. A new MTD express service between campus and Goleta/Santa Barbara neighborhoods that have concentrations of employees and students was referred to Defendini to negotiate.

Financial concerns also dominated the Ratepayers Board 2006-07 recommendations, particularly the juggling of debt service on three parking structures with fees the campus levies for infrastructure renewal on these structures and existing lots. Working with TAB, the two boards sent the chancellor the solution to dividing the T&PS allocation mentioned above.

Income must still be raised to service the construction debt and maintenance of lots, so the chancellor approved raising night and weekend permit fees $2 a month and selling storage parking in the new, but lightly used, 22 Parking structure. So far, a few vehicle owners have purchased storage parking, the Ratepayers Board (RB) members were told at their Nov. 6 meeting.

The RB has been meeting since October. At their November meeting they unanimously agreed to recommend two other measures to Chancellor Yang. One was that resurfacing costs for the Mesa Road lot adjacent to Central Stores/Receiving/Mail Services be split evenly between those departments and RB. The other was to have T&PS sell temporarily disabled members of the UCSB community parking permits for $36 a month, $20 less than the present rate.