Or, do you drive alone in a car, van, truck, or other similar vehicle during peak hours more than two or three times per week? Do you like the traffic jams that happen in all big cities during peak hours?

If you're not happy with the answers to these questions, you can join your fellow riders and commuters in working for better public transportation.

Southern California Transit Advocates (SO.CA.TA) is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit educational organization working to improve transit service in the five-county Southern California area. Most of us are regular riders of Metro, other local bus lines, and Metrolink. Some of us are transit professionals, some have become experts through long years of riding and observing, and some are simply concerned citizens who recognize the importance of good public transit to our communities' quality of life.

SO.CA.TA wants safe, clean, comfortable, reliable, and efficient transit that takes people where they want, when they want, and at a reasonable fare. We want service coordinated among Metro, other municipal bus operators, and Metrolink so that passengers could shift from overcrowded buses and roads to reliable rapid transit and commuter trains. We want transit boards, whether appointed or elected, to be responsive to riders' needs; they must not look at transit as a source of patronage jobs and contracts for political cronies. We believe that transit facilities should be built for the convenience and accessibility of the public, not for the egos of politicians and bureaucrats.

All SO.CA.TA members receive The Transit Advocate newsletter, which contains information about public transit projects and public meetings. We also have developed a transit guide which makes using buses and trains more convenient.

In conclusion, we of the Southern California Transit Advocates will not accept anything less than the very best public transit, achievable within our limited resources, for the five county Los Angeles metropolitan area.