Two years have passed since COVID-19 arrived in Sonoma County. Most of the county is vaccinated and cases are down. Gas prices are spiking, making public transit a more essential service than ever. Yet with the exception of Petaluma Transit, Sonoma County’s public transit agencies haven’t restored public transit service to pre-pandemic levels.

As of January 2022, Sonoma County Transit was running only 86% of pre-pandemic service. SMART was running less than two-thirds of its pre-pandemic trains. And Santa Rosa CityBus was running only 90% of pre-pandemic service, even before the omicron variant surge caused further cuts.

Public transit in Sonoma County was limited to begin with. And the service cuts have had real consequences for riders. We've talked to one rider who now has to walk two miles in the dark to get to his destination, since the bus he previously relied on now starts later in the morning and ends earlier in the evening. For others, reduced service can make the difference between keeping and losing a job. Even for people who have other options, reduced transit means more pollution in our air and more cars on the road.

Sonoma County needs more public transit, not less. The first step is restoring the transit service we had before the pandemic. Marin County is already running 100% of pre-pandemic service, like BART and many other transit agencies. With gas prices soaring, Sonoma County Transit Riders United (SoTRU) urges transit agency leaders - and their bosses, our local elected officials - to do whatever is necessary to get more buses back on the road and trains on the tracks.