Long’s shot: City candidate focuses on transportation

The idea of expanding Charlottesville’s public transit system is personal for resident Paul Long.
Long, 60, doesn’t have a car or a driver’s license, so he depends on city buses to get to work. He works two jobs at the University of Virginia Medical Center, one as a patient transporter and another as a hospital patient companion. And before arriving in Charlottesville 11 years ago, he often fought to preserve and increase public transportation in suburban Philadelphia, where he grew up.

“I have never owned a car in my life,” Long said.
His experience with public transportation has stretched for more than two decades. In 1985, he battled the Southeastern Penn-sylvania Transpor-tation Authority to keep one bus route that went into Philadelphia’s northern suburbs, where he lived. The authority was planning to take away the route, which would have left the area devoid of public transit, Long said.
Taking his long-time, big-city transit experiences with him, Long decided to make his aspirations for Charlottes-ville more public by running for the City Council as an independent.
“I think that for a city its size, Charlottesville has a remarkable transit system,” Long said. But, he added, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be better, especially for those who hold non-professional jobs and may not be able to afford a car.
“They need public transit to get around,” he said.
The city government, in collaboration with Albemarle County, attempted to expand the area’s transit system by considering the establishment of a Regional Transit Authority. But because officials were denied the ability by the General Assembly to tax residents for revenue, the proposal has remained dormant.

Local transit every day

Long supports the idea of a transit authority but, if elected, would push to include surrounding counties at the outset. He also wants the transit system to run every day, including holidays and weekends. To pay for it, the city should solicit a contribution from UVa or from the state, he said.
The Charlottesville Transit System has routes that operate on Saturdays and Sundays, but it does not operate on most holidays. Extensive and frequent transportation, Long said, enhances urban growth and reduces pollution.
Long has spoken at several council meetings to push his issues, which also include the decriminalization of drugs and attracting more businesses to the city.
“I think I’m bringing issues out that I don’t hear anyone else talking about,” he said. While not critical of current councilors, Long said they should be putting an emphasis on different things and that he thinks public transportation is not a high priority for the city.

Changing drug penalties

Long said violent drug offenders should do their time, but not residents who get caught for drug sales of small amounts. Instead of locking them up, Long said, there should be more emphasis on inpatient and outpatient services.
“I think sometimes people need a 30- to 60-day inpatient service to get them off the street,” Long said.
Long said Charlottesville should try to bring in Fortune 500 companies to create more professional jobs for residents — especially because there is an educated labor force here already, he said — and that the Downtown Mall should have a greater mix of businesses so that it does not cater solely to the area’s higher-income residents.
The biggest challenge that he sees for the city is bringing in new business and industry.
“I think Charlottesville should be much more than the University of Virginia,” he said. “To be a world-class city, it’s gotta be much more than a college town.”