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I have always heard students speak about TAPS with hatred in their voices, talking about how they keep on getting tickets, how it is really hard to park on campus and how it is way too expensive. While at first I listened and thought I understood these ‘victimized’ students, my opinion changed once I began walking and biking around campus. All I hear all day is the sound of motors revving at every intersection while noxious gases make their way through my lungs.
The driving habits of so many Santa Cruz students have a greater impact than unbearable traffic and local air pollution. All cars (whether it is a 40 mi/gallon hybrid or a Hummer) emit Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide into our atmosphere, contributing to global climate change. The UN intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for the world to reduce 80 percent of its Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 in order to mitigate the worst effects of global warming.
The same complainers that the “Parking Policy Won’t Change” article [v41, i13] was trying to give voice to might be interested in some stress-free alternatives to dealing with TAPS. Despite what many critics like to say, Santa Cruz has one of the most comprehensive public transportation systems in California. Part of our tuition money (about $150) goes to the Santa Cruz Metro Transit District in order to pay for such an elaborate public transportation system. At the same time, Santa Cruz is a really bikeable town.
I urge all of you to consider the Iroquois law, “in our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations”.
*Tommaso Nicholas Boggia, CalPIRG Student Board Chair*
