BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Anchoring Bias, Unattributed Quote, and Negativity Bias, with Loss Aversion as the most egregious example at 17.2% saturation with 125 hits. Analysis detected 1,016 faulty-reasoning hits from 727 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 33.8% and a BS Rank of 31% (20,285 of 29,339 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 69.10% of the article peer group.
Funding for evening bus service in Arcata is up in the air.
Cal Poly Humboldt is looking to reduce a transportation contract that pays for a couple of bus routes, including the only late-night service in the city.
In a Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) board meeting this morning, staff said they met with university officials in July, who told them budget challenges, along with low ridership, have pushed them to reduce their contract with HTA (which took over operations of Arcata and Mad River Transit about a year ago).
Nothing is set to change in the immediate future.
The board ultimately directed staff to keep the status quo until December, as negotiations continue.
Of concern to folks at the meeting was the possible end to the only bus service that gets people around Arcata from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m..
(The long-range Redwood Transit System whizzes through Arcata a few times at night, but only makes a couple stops).
The Cal Poly Humboldt contract includes $99,450 for the cost of night service this fiscal year.
This bus service runs 34 weeks out of the year to exclude the university’s winter and summer breaks.
It would cost HTA about $150,000 to take the evening service to 52 weeks a year, staff estimated.
“To continue serving the public in Arcata without a supplemental contract from an outside party, HTA would be required to make adjustments elsewhere or pull from limited fiscal cliff funding,” the staff report said.
The night service is largely used by students.
In the first quarter of 2026, a total of 1,028 riders used evening routes, 72% of whom used their Cal Poly student ID, according to HTA’s staff report.
Another route, the 2023-era Green and Gold route, would also be cut under the university’s request.
But “those used to us[ing] Arcata Green and Gold can get similar services from Arcata Gold, so its loss is not a major concern.
However, anyone who relies on the evening routes will be without fixed route service entirely,” the HTA staff report said.
During public comment, people called for evening service to stay intact.
“So many people rely on evening service, and just to give one example for the university, there are a lot of evening classes.
And I know, talking to students and professors, that a lot of students who attend evening classes use the bus to get home,” said Colin Fiske, executive director of pro-transit group the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities.
He said many students have disabilities, can’t afford a car, or live off-campus and thus need to take the bus.
Arcata Mayor Kimberley White said the change was an equity issue for Valley West which is geographically isolated from the rest of the city.
“It’s seven miles round trip,” she said, during public comment at the meeting.
She said many families there can’t afford a vehicle or share one, and Valley West’s unhoused community often utilize the buses.
Cal Poly Humboldt officials at the meeting said one route was designed when students were housed in Valley West’s Comfort Inn.
The university was also expecting an explosion of enrollment, something that didn’t end up happening.
An official said one nine-month period saw 9,500 Cal Poly swipes and 424 swipes from non-students on the Green and Gold route, calling this “extremely low ridership.”
From the cost of the route for the university, this pencils out to about $20 a swipe.
They said they want to spend student fees, the source of transit funds, wisely.
HTA staff agreed this route was underperforming.
Meanwhile, many more people use the HTA-operated shuttle program to the Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms.
The university wants to keep the dorm program.
But HTA staff said that cutting the other two routes could run the agency afoul of Federal Transit Administration rules about unfair competition.
Bundling the routes together apparently was less of a concern.
University officials said they struggle with tracking down private companies for buses and shuttles.
General Manager Katie Collender noted that Arcata’s routes overall need an honest look.
The agency is analyzing the frequency and paths of key routes as part of a broader effort.
The motion, passed unanimously, was to continue the current services through the fall semester, contingent on HTA having available vehicles, and to continue negotiations with the University.
Speakers
6speakers28%attributed speech521writer words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageKimberley White
58 attributed words28% of attributed speech78% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.