UCSC students face daily barriers that reduce safety, access, and belonging: unreliable late-night transportation, a lack of clear and central community spaces, and infrastructure planning (including parking) that moves too slowly and without accountable student representation. We are petitioning for formal, recurring student participation in Santa Cruz City Council decision-making and UCSC infrastructure planning, plus coordinated state-level advocacy when funding/policy is required.

This petition is not the end goal. It is the recruiting mechanism for sustained participation: petition → organized attendance → documented follow-up → measurable outcomes.

 
What we demand (commitments from BOTH City Council and UCSC)

1) Late-night transit: reliable, safe access after hours
City Council commitments requested

Add a standing agenda pathway for UCSC late-night mobility needs (coordination with Santa Cruz METRO and city transit planning).
Provide a designated City staff contact for student transit proposals and response timelines.
UCSC commitments requested

Establish and fund a late-night transportation plan with clear service windows, routes, and safety standards.
Publish a student-facing service dashboard (hours, routes, changes, feedback channel, and response commitments).
Include students in planning and evaluation (representation + metrics).

2) Central community spaces: reduce isolation, increase belonging
City Council commitments requested

Support campus-adjacent planning that increases safe, accessible gathering/study spaces and improves connectivity to downtown resources (where applicable).
Coordinate on permitting/partnership opportunities that expand community space options for students.
UCSC commitments requested

Create/upgrade clearly identified “known” community hubs (late-hours options included), with consistent programming and wayfinding.
Build a student-friendly map/guide to spaces (study, social, wellness, movement) and keep it maintained as “official.”
Commit to student co-design input (not just surveys—recurring seats + responses).

3) Parking + infrastructure planning: accountability in how decisions get made
City Council commitments requested

Maintain a recurring coordination point with UCSC planning on impacts to students and the city (traffic, parking, mobility, housing pressures).
Provide transparent public updates for projects affecting student mobility and access.

UCSC commitments requested

Formal student seats in infrastructure decisions that affect daily life: LRDP, transportation, housing/parking impacts, safety, accessibility, community spaces.
Quarterly public reporting: what’s being decided, timelines, tradeoffs, and what changed based on student input.
A defined path for parking solutions (not vague “future studies”): milestones, options considered, and decision dates.
 
The mechanism (how this petition becomes action)
We request that UCSC Student Affairs coordinates a “student participation pipeline”:

Monthly Civic + Planning Brief: what’s on the City Council agenda + UCSC planning agenda (LRDP/infrastructure)
Rotation system: scheduled student attendance and prepared public comment speakers
Templates: testimony scripts, one-page issue briefs, and letter/email templates
Training: 30–45 minute session on messaging, testimony, and follow-up
Tracking: publish outcomes and next steps so this doesn’t die after one meeting
 
State-level writing for change (when funding/policy is the blocker)
We will run a coordinated writing campaign to California Senators/Assemblymembers for:

late-night transit funding and reliability support
higher-education infrastructure resources tied to access/safety
planning resources for campus-community mobility and parking impacts
We ask UCSC to support distribution of official data and clear “asks” so letters are specific and effective.

 
Success metrics (non-negotiable)
We will track and publicly report:

City Council / UCSC planning meetings attended
testimonies delivered and agenda items addressed
letters sent and responses/commitments received
Commitments secured (owner + timeline + next step)
Deliverables: late-night transit improvements, new/expanded community hubs, and published parking/infrastructure milestones
 
Timeline requested
Within 30 days: named points of contact (City + UCSC) and confirmed participation mechanism
Within 60 days: first Civic + Planning Brief, first training, and rotation schedule published
Within 90 days: first full cycle completed (meetings + testimonies + follow-ups + tracked outcomes)