California Public Transit Fare & Rider Rights State Constitutional Amendment

By signing this petition, I am declaring upon my honor and under penalty of perjury that I have not signed this petition using another identity; that I am a registered voter in this state, IE: the California Republic; that I want the following text to become an actual official proposed ballot measure in an upcoming official California election, the text of which must read as follows:

Regarding: The Maximum Allowed Transit Fare for All Public/Government Owned Transit Systems and Certain Rights of Disabled/Senior/Tottler Riders.

This sayeth the Citizens of the California Republic:

The state constitution of the California Republic shall be amended to say the following:

In California, a transit organization, any portion of which is owned and/or operated by any public and/or government agency, be it municipal, county, state or otherwise...

(1) may not charge more than 75 cents for regular one-way fare nor more than 50 cents for reduced senior/handicapped one-way fare, nor more than 25 cents for a transfer,(which transfer ticket must be valid for not less than 25 hours to ride any bus or train belonging the same organization in any direction at no more than 25 cents additional charge per transfer ride), and must offer one way fare with the option of purchasing a transfer ticket, and;

(2) may not charge more than $3 dollars for full regular-fare, nor more than $2 dollars reduced senior/handicapped fare for a 1-day pass which shall not expire until 5:00am the following day after purchase and may not charge more than 5 dollars full regular-fare, nor more than $3 dollars reduced senior/handicapped fare for a full 2-day pass which shall not expire until 5:00am on the 2nd day following purchase and that these 1 and 2 day passes shall, until they expire, be valid fare to ride any bus or train owned by said public/government-owned transit organization until the time of expiration, and;

(3) All transit bus drivers and train stations must have and sell fare media whether metal tokens, paper, plastic and/or electronic for all of the above fares, 1-day, 2-day, 1-way and transfers, and;

(4) No transit company may charge fare for any person who is legally blind and who has a red-tipped white cane, nor may they charge any fare to a person who has had their foot, hand, arm or leg amputated, nor may they charge any fare for any child less than 5 years old who boards with someone at least age 12 or older, nor may they charge fare to anyone older than 80 years of age,(the transit driver or conductor has the discretion to require proof of age at the beginning of the passenger's ride until the next stop and if passenger's proof of age is not furnished, driver may require passenger to disembark at the next stop after they boarded, but if driver does not do so within one stop, he has thus assented to allow that passenger to ride); nor may any driver who has a working wheel-chair lift refuse service at any bus or train stop to anyone who is using a walker or wheel-chair, unless that person is eligible, but unable to pay the appropriate fare; and a driver may require either any valid proof of age from seniors for reduced senior fare, or may require an official transit ID card as proof of being either a senior citizen or of being handicapped, and;

(5) Public Transit organizations must offer yearly passes, monthly passes and weekly passes at both regular and reduced fair and the total cost of a 1-year pass may not exceed 70\% of the cost which a rider would pay to buy 365 day passes, nor may a monthly pass cost more than 75\% of what a rider would pay to buy 30 day passes and 1-year passes may only be sold from December 20th of the year before until February 15th of the year for which the yearly pass to be valid and shall not be refundable, but may be replaced for $2 if lost and a yearly pass must bear the buyer's photo on it and the buyer of a yearly pass, both regular and reduced fare, must show their state or transit ID to purchase it or to replace it and the transit organization must keep a record of the purchase in case the yearly pass is lost or stolen, so that the buyer need only identify themselves properly to replace it. A weekly pass may not cost more than 85\% of what the rider would pay if they had bought 7 day passes, at either the regular or reduced fare rate.

(6) The "Green Clause": All public/government mass-transit vehicles in California must be powered by either compressed natural gas or by electricity and contracts to supply either resource must go to the lowest bidders for each, the price of which shall be based upon BTU rating per each 60psi liter of compressed natural gas or per KiloWatt/Hour of electrical power usage. Petroleum-based fuels are not allowed for use to power any public/government mass-transit ground vehicles in the State of California. Petroleum may only be used for lubricants and in the manufacture of plastic parts used for said public/government mass-transit vehicles.

(7) To make ends meet financially transit organizations must learn to be frugal with their fund expenditures without sacrificing either safety, cleanliness or service availability.

(8) No public/government owned and/or operated bus route may reduce or eliminate service for the route in question without permission from at least 57\% of the average monthly number riders of said route who are willing to sign yes on an official petition (which must provide both a yes or no option) to be circulated on that same route to its riders and said petition must show their signature, printed name and their state or transit ID card number, to prevent fraud. However the transit organization may increase bus service and bus routes at any time to better serve the public. Detours of no more than the affected distance may occur during times of street closure by utility or emergency services and must resume normal route service as soon as the street is reopened to traffic.

(9) Every bus stop on any two-way street must have another stop within one-tenth of a mile for the same bus route going in the other direction located in a safe place for passengers to wait for transit service and a safe way to cross the street must be provided by the city or county between every set of opposing-direction bus stops for for that route, that passengers may cross the street to the desired bus stop safely.

(10) Every bus stop at a traffic light must have benches with seating capacity for at least 3 people and must have a receptacle with no less than 20 gallon capacity for litter, to be emptied and cleaned weekly. The city or county may accept contract bids from bench-ad companies to facilitate this, but they must be installed and properly cleaned and maintained or the contract will be breached and may be granted to a new bidder.

(11) Paragraphs 3 and 4 (above) are the only part of this Amendment that shall apply to a transit organization that is neither owned nor operated by any body of government.

(12) Private companies that have received government grants, loans and/or subsidies are not included in the definition of the term "government owned or operated" or any variation of said term.

(13) This amendment shall be administered by the California Department of Transportation and shall be enforced by designated trained officers of the California Highway Patrol, as necessary.

We the people want the above to be placed as a proposed ballot measure on a California state election ballot to be voted for in an upcoming election within one year of obtaining the minimum required number of petition signatures on an official ballot measure petition. This amendment may only be amended by a vote of the people of no less than 57\% in favor of changing the above text and may only be nullified or overridden by a directly related ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court.