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Southern California Transit Advocates is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, development and improvement of public transportation in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Member Statements: Steve Crosmer

I became enthused with transportation as a a toddler, crawling around on the living floor of an apartment my family was living in Seattle. I recall staring out the window, watching the draw bridge open and close letting big steamships through along the canal down the street from our home. Also, I recall watching trains passing by, and listening the the chug-chug-chug of steam locomotives on a rail line running paralell to the canal, as my mother took me for walks down to a nearby park where there was duck pond to feed them the crusts from our loaves of bread.

This love for transportation and big machines also grew when we moved to Michigan shortly and moved into a new home where I grew up in Ann Arbor. I had a sandbox full of Tonka toys playing with steam shovels, dump trucks, cement mixers, big trucks, and bulldozers that resembled the same equipment building the last few houses in the neighborhood. My brother, Jesse and I played with them for hours building castles and roads before we got out out or Army soldiers and tanks and jeeps, literally destroying what we had built. Dad told Jesse and I we had to cover the sandbox over to prevent snow from ruining thew sandbox, so we retreated to the basement for the winter time playing with Lionel trains.

However, my true love for transit probably started as a young grade schooler, sometime in Kindergarten. I remember how exciting it was going on field trips, riding the yellow school bus. Also, since we were living close to Ohio where relatives on my mom's side of the family were living in the greater Cleveland area. My grandparents took me for a ride on what is still commonly called "the rapid", Cleveland's Red Line to this very day. I recall riding the original Blue cars that had no air conditioning on them, just oscillating fans blowing to stay cool during hot summer months. Cleveland Transit System was truly intermodal, as they had a feeder bus system to "the rapid". I thought that was a very smart system. I also rode intercity passenger trains a few times out of Ann Arbor, recalling a few rides on what was then the "New York Central System" to Detroit and back, to go to Detroit Tigers baseball games, tour the auto plants, and visit Greenfield Village, Michigan's biggest tourist attraction. We also took the train on a school field trip to visit the Kellogg's plant in Battle Creek, world-famous for its breakfast cereals. Best friends of ours who lived Indiana, frequently came in by train as the father of this family had been blind since birth. Also, my grandfather on my dad's side of the family had railroad connections, working at a coal mine in Montana, providing coal for the steam locomotives for the Milwaukee Road and electrical power for Montana Power and Light.

However, as the 1960's were coming to a close, I was disappointed to see many of our passenger trains, streetcars, and other public transit services cease operating. How could Detroit's public transt company be called the "Detroit Street Railway" (DSR) for several years, even into the early 1970's, when they were running with buses only long after the last streetcars ran in the late 1950's? There was a proposal to build a subway under Woodward Ave. and another under Grand River Blvd. back in 1969. I also recall riding the DSR buses in Detoirt to Tiger Stadium or downtown to the J.L. Hudson Department store and it seemed liked the bus rolled by every few minutes along Michigan Avenue. The buses were full, and had people riding them from all walks of life, rich and poor, laborer and office professional, black and white, resident and visitor. People were smiling, too. Unfortunately, Detroit's auto industry was at the end of its heyday, as the ealt 1970's ushered in the Arab oil embargo, gas prices rose, and Japan introduced an economy car called the Civic that went 40 miles on a gallon of gas. Perhaps Detroit's stubborness to produce such cars did them selves in, as to this day, I've seen Detroit in a steady decline of its own making.

Back in Ann Arbor, some positive news regarding transportation. In September of 1969, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) was created. I was just entering junior high at that time, and took on a newspaper route in my neighborhood. A couple years later, one of my customers was elected to the city council. Being the oldest of six children in my family, pressure was growing in our family to have a second car. Dad bought us all bicycles, and I also gave the bus a try going to doctor appointments and for my piano lessons. My brother Jesse that I mentioned earlier was a very active bicycle rider. My Dad even bought the second car, and wisely bought an economy car, although not the Civic.

The AATA got off to a very poor start. The city council was thinking about closing it down after a couple years. Ann Arbor was becoming a notorious parking problem. With increasing enrollments at the University of Michigan, it was iminent that a city bus compnay was needed to be mainsty in the community. This city council representative on my newspaper route was moderately conservative. He did tell me that the city woulkd have no choice but to raise the property tax millage to finance the bus service. My brother Jess also chimed in with the need for bicycle paths. Our city roads and streets were full of potholes; they would pop like popcorn during the spring. I suggested to this city council person that maybe the people ought to have a chance to vote on the issue. He did not support funding more money for any of the above mentioned projects, but did agree with letting the voters decide.

Guess what happened? All three of the above passed! Ann Arbor took its first steps towards becoming a "green community". Curbs were cut at intersections to allow biciycle riders to cross streets without having to jump off bikes to walk them across the street. The AATA was able to continue its program buying new buses, expanding service, and began a dial-a-ride service; I was able to ride across town for a quarter door-to-door, I actually even declined dad's offer to use the car! Mom said that helped out in giving her some flexibility in running my younger siblings around town between all of her household chores. The money I saved by NOT using car and taking the bus sometimes allowed to me to have a little more spending money for things I wanted to like record albums, movie tickets, or dating my high school sweetheart when the time to actually use the car became necessary. In fact, the city council representative's son became an avid bicycle rider, and when his son was injured by a motorist while riding his bicycle, he became serious about placing more signs up restricting parking on streets where bicycles cross and to my delight, near the bus stops, too.

Even though I work as a truck driver, I do have a passenger endorsement on my commercial driver's license as well. I see a need for more bus drivers and rail car operators as againg baby boomers like my self reach retirement age and become older. Our transportation society in the United States is focussed way too much on cars and could care less about the other alternatives. The Auto Club is probably the most powerful political transportation lobby in Washington. I don't encourage doing everything as they say, but all voices need to be heard on this issue of transportation, no matter how samll. Politics on improving transportation should be a no-brainer. the roads are clogged, demand is there for alternatives, and not everybody was meant to drive a car, nor are they able to, have fears of driving, are physically or mentally unfit to drive, or may have lost their licensce to drive, but still need to get some where! Transportation should be an inssue all spectrums of the political circle should be able to come to an agreement on without partisan fueding and bickering. Transportation projects can creat lots of good government paying jobs, that will also provide long-term needs for all communities in our nation, large and small.