From Santiago, Chile: " Stripper arrested for subway pole dances," by Pav Jordan

A stripper who danced on the poles of Santiago subway trains to challenge the prudishness of Chilean society was arrested on Thursday during one of her lightning performances. (Read more here.)

From the United States: "No more waiting 'in the dark' for your bus," by Katharine Lackey

As the demand for customer-friendly, real-time information increases, more cities, counties and states are going high tech at the bus stop.

Cities are investing thousands of dollars in solar and Global Positioning System technology to provide up-to-the-minute information to passengers on when the next bus will arrive as more people choose public transit.(Read more here.)

From Albuquerque! "Mass Transit Bargain," by Joel Gay

This story originally appeared on NewMexicoIndependent.com at this address: http://www.newmexicoindependent.com/view/albuquerque-fends. This link no longer exists. A copy of the original story appears below.


The skyrocketing cost of gasoline and diesel that is driving more Americans to use mass transportation is also forcing some cities to raise bus fares or cut back service. But thanks to a combination of good fortune and good planning, city officials say Albuquerque is not among them — for now.

Greg Payne, the director of ABQ Ride since early 2006, says the transit department is paying more than twice as much for diesel fuel as it did two years ago, and driving more miles. But because it has replaced much of its diesel-guzzling bus fleet with diesel-electric hybrids, the city will spend only a little more on fuel this year than it did in 2007.

"We kinda saw this coming and budgeted accordingly," said Payne. And even with the prospect of higher fuel expenses stretching into the future, he said, "There's no interest on the part of the mayor and City Council in raising fares."

Other cities can't say the same. Denver boosted its bus and light-rail fares 25 cents in January — a year ahead of schedule because of rising fuel prices — and it's still not enough, city officials told PBS. Minneapolis-St. Paul has announced plans for a 25-cent fare hike in October, and already planners there are talking about another rate hike in 2009, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. In parts of suburban Seattle, fares will jump 25 cents in August, and other transit departments in that metro area are pondering price hikes, the Web site Crosscut Seattle reported recently.

Chicago will have to spend about $20 million more on fuel than was budgeted, but will likely cut service to make ends meet rather than raise fares, Chicago Transit Authority officials told the Chicago Tribune earlier this month.


Albuquerque finds itself in an enviable position in large part because of the city's shift toward sustainability and green consciousness, Payne told the New Mexico Independent. Beginning in 2004, ABQ Ride started replacing a substantial portion of its bus fleet with diesel-electric hybrids. The new buses get nearly twice the mileage that the old diesel-powered buses got, Payne said, and while that's only five or six miles per gallon, it's kept the city's fuel bills from going through the roof.

"Cities across the country are scrambling like mad to buy buses," he said, either to keep up with increased ridership, to reduce their buses' emissions, or both. Albuquerque simply was ahead of the curve, Payne said.

As a result, the department's fuel costs in the fiscal year that ends Monday will finish only slightly higher than the previous year, despite the skyrocketing cost per gallon. An exact figure won't be known until the books close in mid-July, Payne said, but in the previous fiscal year the city spent $4.1 million on fuel.

And that's with a deep discount — the city buys in bulk and doesn't pay state and federal motor fuels taxes. The city just bought a load of fuel for $3.88 a gallon, Payne said, even as the cheapest diesel in town was selling for nearly $4.50 a gallon. Two years ago, he said the city paid about $1.75 a gallon.

One might think the rise in ridership would cover the rising fuel costs, but it doesn't, Payne said. Savvy riders take advantage of fare reductions such as monthly passes and senior discounts. College students ride free — and they make up 60 percent of the riders on some buses, he said. Still, it appears that fare revenues will be well over $6 million for the current fiscal year, about $1 million more than last year.

Even if ridership continues to rise, there are some dark clouds on the horizon for mass transit in Albuquerque. One big question is whether federal support will continue or decline. "Federal aid is a huge deal," Payne said. Federal dollars paid for 83 percent of each of the new hybrid buses — which cost around $600,000 apiece — and there are many more left to purchase, particularly if demand continues to grow.

"For now it (federal funding) looks OK, but the financial picture in Washington, D.C., is cause for concern," Payne said.

In its favor, Albuquerque has replaced enough of its buses that the average age is about 6 years — down from 12 to 14 years old in 2006. "If things sour in federal funding, we've got a little breathing room," he said.

And depending on who moves into the Oval Office in January, mass transit could get a boost. Congress has already moved to shore up transportation funding, with the House last week approving $1.7 billion to help transit agencies pay higher fuel costs and maintain service.
That would provide nearly $3 million a year for Albuquerque, according to a recent analysis by the New Mexico Public Interest Research Group (NMPIRG) on household gasoline spending and transportation options.

"If Congress wants to do something long-term about high gas prices, it will give people more alternatives to driving," said Laura Hixon, the citizen outreach director for NMPIRG. "Unless we make it easier to drive less, American families will be stuck in neutral as they spend more and more at the pump."

Perhaps the biggest potential threat to ABQ Ride is loss of local financial support, Payne said. Late next year, the City Council will consider whether to extend the city's quarter-cent gross receipts tax for transportation projects. Most of the tax revenue goes to road projects, but the 20 to 25 percent that supports mass transportation is crucial, he said. "If we don't (continue the tax), we'll be in the same situation that other transit departments across the country are in."

On the flip side, additional economic aid for mass transit could come from a tax under consideration by Rio Metro, the regional transportation district for Bernalillo, Valencia and Sandoval counties. The Albuquerque Journal last week reported the Rio Metro board soon will consider whether to ask voters in the three-county area to support an eighth-cent gross receipts tax hike to help pay for a number of transportation projects, including the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter train and bus services such as ABQ Ride.

Given some of the negative comments on the regional tax idea posted later on Journal writer John Fleck's blog, the tax might not fly. But as crude oil surpasses the $140 mark and predictions of $200 a barrel now seeming less preposterous, some are suggesting American drivers prepare for $7-per-gallon gasoline. At that rate, ABQ Ride may have to start taking reservations for its $1, cross-town trips.

From Minneapolis-St.Paul: "Mass-transit meets mass-media," by Gita Sitaramiah

To advertisers, buses are much more than a commuting option. They're rolling billboards with the capacity to spread messages to on-the-go consumers. (Read more here.)

From Albuquerque! "Soaring gasoline prices cause public transit ridership to ‘explode,’ " by LLoyd Jojola

This story was published in the Albuquerque Journal on June 19, 2008. However, I am unable to find a link to that story within the Albuquerque Journal website's search engine. I did find ten pages of Lloyd Jojola stories, many about ABQ RIDE, but not the story I have copied below.


Judy Sesma of Rio Rancho did the math. By using the bus for her commute to Sandia Labs, she’s saving about $5 a day in gasoline costs — and that was calculated when the fuel prices were about $3, $3.50 per gallon.

“It’s 25 miles one-way to work,” the secretary said while waiting to board ABQ Ride’s Route 96 Crosstown commuter service at 6:09 a.m. Tuesday. “This is cheap transportation.”

It’s transportation an ever-increasing number of people are using as area gas prices near $4 a gallon.

One commuter route has seen passenger loads more than double in the past couple months.

ABQ Ride boardings sur- passed 909,000 in May, an 8 percent increase compared with the same month last year. But more marked increases have occurred on bus routes that largely serve commuters, causing the transit agency to make changes to accommodate more ridership.

“Our bigger increases have been in the commuter routes, and they have been over the last couple of months vs. the first part of the fiscal year,” said Art Martinez, a Transit Department spokesman. “We were definitely seeing steady growth, but we’re seeing spikes in the last couple of months.”

A prime example: the Route 96 service that runs weekday mornings and evenings from the Cottonwood Mall park and ride site on the West Side to Kirtland Air Force Base. By observation alone, it’s a standing-room-only service at times.

“That’s happening a lot, especially coming home. Sometimes going in,” said Rio Rancho resident Elizabeth Jones, a Veterans Affairs Hospital nurse who’s gone from taking the Route 96 bus “once in a while” to “more than I used to.”

From July 2007 to March 2008, an average of about 2,650 people a month rode the Route 96 line. During April and May, the number was about 4,000 a month.

The growth has been substantial enough that another bus — a morning run and an evening run — will be added to the Route 96 service starting Monday, Martinez said.

And that’s not the only line with a sizable increase.

Ridership on ABQ Ride’s Route 222 line, which ties into the Rail Runner Express station by Rio Bravo Boulevard — bus service that feeds the airport and Air Force base area — has “exploded,” Martinez said.

An average of about 1,500 people per month boarded that route from July 2007 to March 2008. But in April and May, an average of 3,326 used it each month. Much of that passenger traffic is made up of Valencia County commuters coming into the Albuquerque area, according to transit officials.

Similar increases are being seen, and adjustments are being made, by other mass transit providers, such as the Rail Runner Express train.

A third car was added to the northbound train Tuesday that departs from the Belen station at 5:46 a.m.

“We added it because the busiest section is between Belen and Downtown Albuquerque,” said Jay Faught of the Mid-Region Council of Governments. “It was really to accommodate those passengers coming from Belen and Los Lunas.”

Train managers in April had already added a car to the train that departs Belen at 6:51 a.m.

“Just in the last month or so, we’ve seen a more than 20 percent jump in ridership on the Rail Runner, with some of our train cars overflowing with passengers,” Lawrence Rael, MRCOG executive director, said in a statement this week.

And the state Department of Transportation this week added another bus to its park-and-ride service from Albuquerque to Santa Fe to meet demand.

“Currently, passengers are at standing room only on this route and several people have been turned away in the past two days,” state Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught said in a news release as the move was made.

On Wednesday, an additional bus began picking up commuters at 6:40 a.m. from the state Department of Transportation offices at 7500 Pan American Freeway NE in Albuquerque. It leaves from the state DOT offices at 1120 Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe at 5:20 p.m.

Bus benefits

Judy Sesma, a Rio Rancho resident, has been riding the bus for years. She catches ABQ Ride’s Route 96 Crosstown commuter about four days each week to get to her job at Sandia National Laboratories. She listed the following benefits to riding the bus: It reduces wear and tear on her car. She gets a discount on her automobile insurance. “You don’t have to do the driving yourself.” You can read, study, talk, sleep. And you can socialize. “I’ve met some really nice people on the bus.”

Ditch your car

Albuquerque’s buses are free today.

Mayor Martin Chávez announced Wednesday that the Transit Department would celebrate “Dump the Pump Day” with free bus service. And every city department director will take the bus or alternative transportation to work, the mayor said.

Also free today: the New Mexico Park and Ride bus service, on a space-available basis, and Rail Runner Express services.

Mass transit choices



For schedule and fare information, go to:

ABQ Ride: www.cabq.gov/abqride or call 243-RIDE.


 Rail Runner Express: www.nmrailrunner.com or call 245-RAIL.


 New Mexico Park and Ride: www.nmparkandride.com or call (866) 551-RIDE (7433) or (505) 424-1110.

MARLA BROSE/JOURNAL Daniel Jones, right, stands in front of D.J. Latham as they catch a ride on ABQ Ride’s Route 96 Tuesday morning. The popular route was full as it left the stop at Gibson and San Mateo, bound for Cottonwood Mall.




From Mexico City: "Mexican bus drivers want tips despite harrowing rides." (AP)

So what if they rage through traffic, cause at least one accident a day and barely stop for passengers. Drivers of Mexico City's rickety old "pesero" buses say they deserve tips for their harrowing rides. (Read more here.)

From San Francisco: "Top bus driver followed a winding path," by Rachel Gordon

Jesse Dela Cruz almost flunked the driving test when he signed up to become a bus jockey for AC Transit 29 years ago. Today, he is the three-time championship transit operator of North America, having just won his third title at the annual transit "roadeo" in Texas. (Read more here.)