SCOOT tax bombs

"We had a polling consultant who said if it was $39 instead of $59 it would probably pass. But $39 wouldn't have paid for the program," Mayor Inge Tiegel Doherty last night.

Tiegel Doherty voted to place the tax on the ballot because it needed the approval of four of the five council members, but had doubts it would pass, she said.

SCOOT - or, the San Carlos Optimal Operational Transit - shuttles children to school, carts the elderly to appointments and gets commuters to the train station without clogging city streets. Come July 1, those people will have to find a new way around town.

The tax to raise $3.25 million over the next five years only garnered 44.76 percent of the vote during yesterday's special election. It needed 66 percent - or two-thirds of the votes to pass.

Matt Grocott was the only council member to vote against placing the tax on the ballot. Grocott didn't believe it was acceptable to require everyone to subsidize a program benefiting a select group of citizens.

The controversy surrounding the tax sent an impressive 38.6 percent of registered San Carlos voters to the polls. Usually special elections only gather about 30 to 35 percent of registered voters.

Many residents were reluctant to speak publicly about their opposition to the tax after it received the support from the council, said opponent John Hoffman.

Hoffman and a small group of residents waged a steady battle against the tax since the council's approval last year.

"It's unfortunate that it was done. In retrospect it's easy to say it failed by 50 percent, but you don't know that until the vote is actually taken," he said.

Since its inception in 2002, SCOOT won awards for its unique approach to reducing congestion along the Peninsula. However, its operating costs continued to rise.

In 2002, the $1 million dollar pilot program was funded from a transportation sales tax, gas tax and money typically used for street repair. Ridership on the 20-person shuttles hit its peak in March with 19,387 trips - double that of the previous year. Primary users include school children and the elderly although more than 500 commuters also benefit by taking routes to the Caltrain station.

With its popularity, more shuttles were added and more cities emulated the program. With local gas tax funds dwindling, the city was forced to brainstorm other ways to keep the shuttles afloat past July. New operators and grants helped cut costs to roughly $700,000 annually but the price tag was still steep for the city to absorb.

The council toyed with the idea of making SCOOT a fare-based shuttle, but concluded that not enough people ride it to make tickets affordable. Each ride would cost around $5, Tiegel Doherty said.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.