SamTrans held its fourth and final '��Service Cut & Fare Meetings'�� Thursday night at Cunha Intermediate School.

An estimated 138 concerned Coastside residents packed the school'��s multipurpose room for a presentation, along with a chance to voice their opinions on the transportation company'��s proposed bus service reduction in light of a $28.4 million deficit.

The meeting began with a bleak presentation from Operations Financial Analyst for SamTrans, Don Esse. Relying on numbers, Esse painted a harsh outlook for SamTrans due to decreasing tax revenue, declining ridership and the elimination of state funds. With no other choice, SamTrans has been forced to make changes, with proposals including a '��fixed-route bus service reductions up to 15%,'�� paratransit service reductions, increased fares and the elimination of other services.

Thursday'��s crowd, the largest of the four community meetings, urged SamTrans to carefully consider their actions, as complete service cuts would eliminate the main means of transportation for many Coastsiders.

For many at the meeting, cuts were simply unreasonable. Dwight Wilson of the Coastside Transportation Committee noted that ridership for Route 17 alone had nearly doubled in two years. Since 2007, passengers on the Highway 1 route have increased from 53,258 to 97,340 in 2009.

Following the presentation, the microphone was passed around as Coastsiders from Pescadero to Pacifica attested to the importance of the bus lines to the community.

Jennifer Petrie, services manager for the Moonridge housing community, was representing over 1,500 community members at Thursday'��s meeting. She advised officials to look past the numbers and at the people who needed the busses to fulfill '��basic needs.'��

'��I know that numbers are becoming more and more important, she said. '��But you'��re dealing with people and their basic needs. They'��re not going to the mall. They'��re going to school, going to work and going to the doctor.'��

Among the largest contingent at the meeting were seniors, many of whom trekked over from Cañada Cove to attend the meeting.

'��It'��s always hard to decide what services need to be cut and there is a huge deficit, we all know that,'�� said Susy Castoria, Coastsider and president of the San Mateo Commission on Disabilities. '��But remember, mobility is the fifth freedom and without the ability of where we want to go and when we want to go there, none of the other freedoms has real meaning.'��

Faces young and old presented their statements and personal stories, telling of how buses were needed to take children to school every morning or required for commuters to get into the city. A number of people traveled from Pacifica and from even further north, to voice their discontent that the DX and CX lines'�”the main routes into San Francisco'�”could be eliminated.

During the meeting, which lasted more than an hour and a half, officials took note of each comment, gathering information for the September SamTrans board meeting where changes would be finalized.

'��We know this is a very active community with people who work very hard,'�� said Christine Dunn, public information officer for SamTrans. '��These are very dedicated people with some like you heard riding the buses for over 20 years.'��

SamTrans will be reviewing the information gathered from the four recent community meetings at its Sept. 9 meeting. Service reductions will tentatively go into effect by December 20, 2009, while fare reductions would take effect by February of 2010.