Siegel and others dependent on the Valley Transit Authority are nervous about all the recent cuts in public transportation funding.

He rides either the 22 or the 300 lines that pass through Sunnyvale. The 22 line is the most used line of all the VTS lines in the county. It starts in Menlo Park, winds down through Sunnyvale and ends up at Eastridge in San Jose. The line carries over 23,000 riders daily representing 16 percent of VTA's total bus ridership.

But line 22 isn't the only one that runs through Sunnyvale. Eighteen different bus lines and one Light Rail route make approximately 858 bus and Light Rail trips run through Sunnyvale every weekday.

According to a 2000 on-board survey by the VTA about seven percent of all VTA riders are Sunnyvale residents, says Anne-Catherine Vinickas, VTA spokeswoman.

Many VTA riders in Santa Clara County fear that VTA service will revert back to 1981 levels, meaning fewer routes and less frequent trips for both buses and the light rail.

But part of what's causing VTA's financial problems is a decreasing number of riders.

Vinickas says there has been a 23 percent drop in VTA ridership in the last two years due to the high levels of unemployment and the economic downturn. The VTA is also funded in part by sales tax revenue in Santa Clara County and people are spending less these days.

At the VTA's meeting on June 5, the board of directors adopted a 21 percent reduction in service. However, Vinickas says the reduction was deferred from October 2003 to January 2004.

This will be the third service cut in three consecutive years. Previous service cuts include a five- percent cut in July 2002 and a nine percent cut in April of this year.

"We are trying to make the cuts affect as few people as possible," Vinickas says.

In August, however, the rates will go up. A single adult ride will cost $1.50 instead of $1.40, and a single day pass will cost $4.50 instead of $4.00. The majority of VTA riders earn less than $20,000 a year and 62 percent have no other means of transportation.

Tenth grader Susan Le commutes from her home in San Jose to Fremont High School in Sunnyvale everyday by Light Rail.

"I think the fare increases are not good because a lot of people are out of work and can't afford to pay more," Le says.

There is, however, some good news.

The VTA plans to transform line 22 into a Bus Rapid Transit corridor, which will provide faster, more reliable service. This line will include queue jump lanes at congested locations, an advanced communications system, signal prioritization for buses to reduce delay and more frequent and direct service, says Vinickas.

Sunnyvale Vice Mayor Tim Risch says VTA fares are not out of line when compared to other transit agencies in the country.

Bus rider Paul Siegel says. "I hope the VTA runs buses frequently because the more service you provide the more you build ridership."

There are other issues for the VTA to attend to.

Sunnyvale resident Margaret Okuzumi, who is the executive director of Bay Rail Alliance and a board member of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition, says the city needs to design public transit stops that are convenient for bicyclists. She says many VTA stops are located right on streets that don't have sidewalks.

She also says says the light rail is too slow. "The average speed of Light Rail is very slow compared to other similar systems in the U.S.," Okuzumi says. As a result people don't use it as much as they might.