This week’s open public forum awaits you. Blog on!
25 Comments
I’m not a typical south bay NIMBY who wouldn’t be caught dead taking public transportation and is addicted to her car-I really, really try to support the VTA. Yet, they make some questionable decisions, like-why do they only run one light rail car at night? Last Thursday night, taking the lrt south to Santa Teresa, there was only one car. Yes, one car to fit a ton of people in. Why don’t they continuously run trains with two cars? Does VTA management realise that cramming so many people into a single lrt car is a joke?
I just read in Roadshow that a 500 foot long bicycle bridge is being built across I280 near Hwy 85 at a projected cost of $10.2 MILLION!!! Extrapolating that out, it comes to about $105 MILLION per mile FOR A BICYCLE BRIDGE!
No wonder we can’t balance the state budget.
If a bike bridge costs that much per mile, imagine the TRUE cost of BART , especially with all that underground work.
Could you please be more specific? What time were you riding? Did a big event, like the circus, let out of the tank?
VTA usually plans for crowds and runs longer trains when there is a large event downtown.
Also, this weekend is screwed up because of trackwork downtown and they’re running the bus bridge between Civic Center and Convention Center.
It’s too bad that the trackwork falls on the same weekend that the circus is here. [no VTA=circus jokes, please]
Still, I wish VTA would spend less on multi-billion dollar projects they can’t afford like BART and more time trying to make their existing system better so more people will use it. Somehow, they need to speed up the trains through downtown, for example.
It was on Thursday night, so the track construction had nothing to do with it. I’ve seen them on many occasions during the evenings, (usually after 8pm) run only one car on both the Santa Teresa and Winchester routes.
I’m not exactly sure what the VTA is trying to save-it can’t be money, since they are already paying a driver to drive a single car, why not add another? Is it to reduce wear and tear on each individual car? But didn’t they just buy them not too long ago?
Its usually a very crowded, unpleasant experience.
You don’t have to imagine what are BART true costs a former BART director and engineer has already given us todays true costs –
– $9-10 billion construction cost ( $750 million – $1 billion a mile for undergrounding per SF latest cost est ) which is $3-4 billion more than schemers latest estimates = 1/2 more sales tax
– $150-200 million per year BART operating costs and possible more since BART passenger fare box revenue numbers are highly inflated which will require more taxes to fund BART operations equal to 1/4 cents more sales tax
Yes, many want BART but would they vote for BART if they knew real $$$$ costs and impact on existing VTA operations ? NO
Which is why BART schemers and dreamers are hiding or lying to public true BART construction and operating costs
How much more in sales taxes will VTA and BART require?
Currently VTA 1/2 cent sales tax funds VTA operations BUT BART agreement gives BART first call on this tax if BART fare box estimates are overstated ( purposefully by VTA ) or wrong ( economy weak or peopl dont ride BART ) which means VTA will have to cut VTA operation or raise more taxes – The VTA tax surprise
50% of 1/2 cent ( 1/4 cent ) of Measure A sales taxes has been diverted to BART which is still not enough – which is why BART schemers and dreamers are hiding or lying from public true BART costs
Proposed 1/8 cent sales tax is still not enough
VTA Board and schemers thing they can fool public into supporting BART construction now with hiding true cost and later raise more BART taxes ( 3/4 – 1 cents sales or equivalent property tax from property owners within 1/2 miles of existing or proposed transit stations ( San Carlos / Santa Clara Eastridge etc ) or major streets / highways
This story ran in L.A. TIMES today. Maybe Merc could do same investigation locally.
SEIU removes all officers of local chapter amid financial inquiry
SEIU takes action after The Times reports payments to firms owned by local leader’s relatives.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 23, 2008
There are obviously two different worlds co-existing in San Jose. The “Echo chamber” that is this blog, where almost everyone hates BART! Then real world San Jose, where most people I talk to love BART! Be it co-workers, family or friends, I have yet to talk to someone in the “real” world who doesn’t object to BART. And contrary to belief HJ #3, we can afford BART! The money is there to build BART with the current sales tax measure and future state/federal funds; the “dime a day” tax measure would ensure operations and maintenance. It would also ensure that future BART service won’t affect LRT and bus service, especially those lines that are underused, ie travelling around the valley late at night with ONE passenger (or no passengers at all)…NOW THAT’S A WASTE OF MONEY! Yes to BART and High-Speed Rail!!
Tony, you love any recognizable brand coming to San Jose. That’s why you keep lobbying for the A’s to move here while looking down on the Earthquakes who already exist under the San Jose name. If BART was called anything else, you’d not be nearly as eager to have it bankrupt our transit. That’s all secondary to you, though, as you’ll finally be able to say that San Jose matters because it has BART just like Oakland and San Francisco.
#6,
Why don’t you try citing your source of information?!! (maybe because it’s all made up in the first place?) It’s anti-BART spin at its worst! For a system that moves 380,000 people PER DAY, it sure get’s a lot of “love” due to its cost. Yes, BART to SJ is expensive, but I’d rather have packed BART trains any day over lightly used light-rail traveling at 15 mph.
The fun thing about an Obama-Biden ticket is that the McCain campaign can point to a new awkward comment by Joe Biden — either on the importance of experience, in praise of McCain, or in support of invading Iraq — that contradicts the stands and qualities of the Democratic nominee for every day from now until Election Day.
NT,
San Jose is a large city that can do both: bring back MLS (which they have) AND attract Major League Baseball. My problem has always been that know one on this site, perhaps with the exception of Mr McEnery, has ever acknowledged the unfairness of SJ being banned from obtaining a MLB team (through SF Giants territorial rights). It doesn’t matter whether you’re an A’s, Giants, or even Earthquakes fan: all of us should have agreed that as an American city, we had the right/freedom to pursue whatever sport we wanted. I’ve never looked down on the Quakes, only those soccer supporters who championed the G’s territorial rights for their own selfish motives. We have the Quakes yet again; we could have the A’s also! #12, BayRailAlliance is irrelevant as a transit group; they’ve hated BART since day one! And now, through a frivilous lawsuit, they’re trying to stall (even kill) proposed High-Speed Rail. MTC, VTA, and the Mineta Transportation Institute (SJSU) support BART to SJ, and that’s fine by me.
FYI: On Wednesday I had a submission that did not get posted, something that I don’t remember happening before. I re-submitted it, with a note regarding the earlier post, and subsequently saw that the submission without the note was posted. I also noticed that a word correction I’d made did not register. Weird.
I suspect a malfunction of some sort, not anything intentional.
If your experience was even remotely similar you might want to give SJI the benefit of the doubt.
One of my posts on this blog was modifiededitedcensored this week without my permission.
I’m still not sure how I feel about this. I’ve briefly considered deleting my account and unbookmarking SanJoseInside.
I thought everyone here should be aware of this fact. If you were wondering if SanJoseInside is either a) A News Site that alters user posts or b) A News Site that doesn’t alter user posts, they are definitely choice (a).
#6—many of us remember the low ball bid to construct our trolley. And, the projected ridership numbers were highly inflated.No reason to suspect otherwise re BART, is there?
#8—wanna bet about whether construction costs come within current budget figures bandied about, about the accuracy of the ridership projections, about the annual operating costs, and about the % of costs covered by the fare box?
It is funny to see you ask someone else to cite where they get their information when you fail to offer up anything other than worthless slogans. Check out this website, http://www.math.com. The site provides remedial reviews for people like yourself who don’t seem to grasp the concept. Once you have had time to review, perhaps you could finally answer the question about how VTA comes up with $50 million per year when the proposed tax only generates $44 million?
Or, you could just continuebto evade the real questions, stick your tail between your legs, and don’t come back until November to take your verbal whooppin from all of us once your beloved BART proposal is once again shot down at the ballot box.
I am not sure what happened in each case you relate. We never change anything anyone writes by adding anything. However, on rare occasions and in the judgement of the person vetting comments, we will edit out a word or phrase that is blatantly in violation of our policy where the rest of the post is OK. Sometimes, also rare, an entire comment gets deleted for the same reason. As far as I know, nothing by Finfan has every been deleted or edited, and he will remember that I have defended his right to say what he has several times, even though I did not agree with his opinion.
In Kenny’s case, I don’t know the answer. I do not remember any specific incident in his case. However, I will remind you Kenny that this is a privately-owned, moderated forum and we reserve the right to edit out any word or phrase or delete an entire comment that in the opinion of the moderator is in violation of our published policy. We don’t need anyone’s permission. If a regular blogger identifies him/herself and posts a real email address, I try and contact that person and explain the circumstances of any edit or deletion. In your case, you post anonymously and without contact information, making it impossible to do so.
Tony, I don’t care about your personal opinion of Bay Rail Alliance. You were asked to explain to the group why you think that their argument is flawed. “BayRailAlliance is irrelevant as a transit group; they’ve hated BART since day one!” is not going to cut it. You’ll have to explain the flaw in their reasoning if you want to be taken seriously.
(click OK when you’re bugged about invalid web site certificates.)
WHEN: Friday, August 29, 2008 at 5:30pm
WHERE: Center for Training and Careers (CTC), 1600 Las Plumas Avenue, San Jose.
GETTING THERE: The VTA’s 77 bus stops within one block of the CTC, on King Road and Las Plumas. Walk one long block west (away from the foothills) – the CTC is at the corner on the left side.
Burns is expected to talk about the 3 ballot measures (B, C, and D) VTA has on the November ballot. Burns could also talk about the possibility of a VTA system strike. (The ATU local 265 vote on that strike is this coming Wednesday.)
This is well worth going to if you are concerned about the potential strike and its mobility impact and/or the ballot measures.
1. Of course I don’t question the right of a privately owned forum to vet its contents. I understand media.
2. My post was definitely altered to remove a questionable racial referrence. I don’t even defend the term I used—just noticed that the omission changed the meaning of my post.
3. I do apologize for posting anonymously—I fully comprehend how I make the situation more difficult for myself by doing so. Though not necessarily relevant, I will disclose that I got into the habit of doing so on multiple forums solely to protect my family from Little Saigon supporters when I was critical of Barry Dong Ho. I’m not joking about that. I promise to come up with an anonymous e-mail to use in the future.
I’m not a typical south bay NIMBY who wouldn’t be caught dead taking public transportation and is addicted to her car-I really, really try to support the VTA. Yet, they make some questionable decisions, like-why do they only run one light rail car at night? Last Thursday night, taking the lrt south to Santa Teresa, there was only one car. Yes, one car to fit a ton of people in. Why don’t they continuously run trains with two cars? Does VTA management realise that cramming so many people into a single lrt car is a joke?
I just read in Roadshow that a 500 foot long bicycle bridge is being built across I280 near Hwy 85 at a projected cost of $10.2 MILLION!!! Extrapolating that out, it comes to about $105 MILLION per mile FOR A BICYCLE BRIDGE!
No wonder we can’t balance the state budget.
If a bike bridge costs that much per mile, imagine the TRUE cost of BART , especially with all that underground work.
Amanda:
Could you please be more specific? What time were you riding? Did a big event, like the circus, let out of the tank?
VTA usually plans for crowds and runs longer trains when there is a large event downtown.
Also, this weekend is screwed up because of trackwork downtown and they’re running the bus bridge between Civic Center and Convention Center.
It’s too bad that the trackwork falls on the same weekend that the circus is here. [no VTA=circus jokes, please]
Still, I wish VTA would spend less on multi-billion dollar projects they can’t afford like BART and more time trying to make their existing system better so more people will use it. Somehow, they need to speed up the trains through downtown, for example.
Joe Biden is an outstanding choice for VP.
The Democrats now have a team that can really change this country. We will need all of their talents to undo the damage caused by this administration.
But the choice shows tremendous wisdom and Obama can be a great President if he continues to put the country above politics.
Joe Biden is also a person who has always put country above politics.
And they both believe that yes we can . . .
It was on Thursday night, so the track construction had nothing to do with it. I’ve seen them on many occasions during the evenings, (usually after 8pm) run only one car on both the Santa Teresa and Winchester routes.
I’m not exactly sure what the VTA is trying to save-it can’t be money, since they are already paying a driver to drive a single car, why not add another? Is it to reduce wear and tear on each individual car? But didn’t they just buy them not too long ago?
Its usually a very crowded, unpleasant experience.
JMO
You don’t have to imagine what are BART true costs a former BART director and engineer has already given us todays true costs –
– $9-10 billion construction cost ( $750 million – $1 billion a mile for undergrounding per SF latest cost est ) which is $3-4 billion more than schemers latest estimates = 1/2 more sales tax
– $150-200 million per year BART operating costs and possible more since BART passenger fare box revenue numbers are highly inflated which will require more taxes to fund BART operations equal to 1/4 cents more sales tax
Yes, many want BART but would they vote for BART if they knew real $$$$ costs and impact on existing VTA operations ? NO
Which is why BART schemers and dreamers are hiding or lying to public true BART construction and operating costs
How much more in sales taxes will VTA and BART require?
Currently VTA 1/2 cent sales tax funds VTA operations BUT BART agreement gives BART first call on this tax if BART fare box estimates are overstated ( purposefully by VTA ) or wrong ( economy weak or peopl dont ride BART ) which means VTA will have to cut VTA operation or raise more taxes – The VTA tax surprise
50% of 1/2 cent ( 1/4 cent ) of Measure A sales taxes has been diverted to BART which is still not enough – which is why BART schemers and dreamers are hiding or lying from public true BART costs
Proposed 1/8 cent sales tax is still not enough
VTA Board and schemers thing they can fool public into supporting BART construction now with hiding true cost and later raise more BART taxes ( 3/4 – 1 cents sales or equivalent property tax from property owners within 1/2 miles of existing or proposed transit stations ( San Carlos / Santa Clara Eastridge etc ) or major streets / highways
This story ran in L.A. TIMES today. Maybe Merc could do same investigation locally.
SEIU removes all officers of local chapter amid financial inquiry
SEIU takes action after The Times reports payments to firms owned by local leader’s relatives.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 23, 2008
There are obviously two different worlds co-existing in San Jose. The “Echo chamber” that is this blog, where almost everyone hates BART! Then real world San Jose, where most people I talk to love BART! Be it co-workers, family or friends, I have yet to talk to someone in the “real” world who doesn’t object to BART. And contrary to belief HJ #3, we can afford BART! The money is there to build BART with the current sales tax measure and future state/federal funds; the “dime a day” tax measure would ensure operations and maintenance. It would also ensure that future BART service won’t affect LRT and bus service, especially those lines that are underused, ie travelling around the valley late at night with ONE passenger (or no passengers at all)…NOW THAT’S A WASTE OF MONEY! Yes to BART and High-Speed Rail!!
Tony, you love any recognizable brand coming to San Jose. That’s why you keep lobbying for the A’s to move here while looking down on the Earthquakes who already exist under the San Jose name. If BART was called anything else, you’d not be nearly as eager to have it bankrupt our transit. That’s all secondary to you, though, as you’ll finally be able to say that San Jose matters because it has BART just like Oakland and San Francisco.
#6,
Why don’t you try citing your source of information?!! (maybe because it’s all made up in the first place?) It’s anti-BART spin at its worst! For a system that moves 380,000 people PER DAY, it sure get’s a lot of “love” due to its cost. Yes, BART to SJ is expensive, but I’d rather have packed BART trains any day over lightly used light-rail traveling at 15 mph.
The fun thing about an Obama-Biden ticket is that the McCain campaign can point to a new awkward comment by Joe Biden — either on the importance of experience, in praise of McCain, or in support of invading Iraq — that contradicts the stands and qualities of the Democratic nominee for every day from now until Election Day.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGRhNzJlMWY5NjdiNzhjMTRkYjMzNjYwOGJmYzNjMTY=
Tony:
Please explain why you think that the following analysis is flawed:
http://www.bayrailalliance.org/memo_vta_board_regarding_proposed_18_tax_increase
Thank you.
NT,
San Jose is a large city that can do both: bring back MLS (which they have) AND attract Major League Baseball. My problem has always been that know one on this site, perhaps with the exception of Mr McEnery, has ever acknowledged the unfairness of SJ being banned from obtaining a MLB team (through SF Giants territorial rights). It doesn’t matter whether you’re an A’s, Giants, or even Earthquakes fan: all of us should have agreed that as an American city, we had the right/freedom to pursue whatever sport we wanted. I’ve never looked down on the Quakes, only those soccer supporters who championed the G’s territorial rights for their own selfish motives. We have the Quakes yet again; we could have the A’s also! #12, BayRailAlliance is irrelevant as a transit group; they’ve hated BART since day one! And now, through a frivilous lawsuit, they’re trying to stall (even kill) proposed High-Speed Rail. MTC, VTA, and the Mineta Transportation Institute (SJSU) support BART to SJ, and that’s fine by me.
Kenny,
FYI: On Wednesday I had a submission that did not get posted, something that I don’t remember happening before. I re-submitted it, with a note regarding the earlier post, and subsequently saw that the submission without the note was posted. I also noticed that a word correction I’d made did not register. Weird.
I suspect a malfunction of some sort, not anything intentional.
If your experience was even remotely similar you might want to give SJI the benefit of the doubt.
One of my posts on this blog was modifiededitedcensored this week without my permission.
I’m still not sure how I feel about this. I’ve briefly considered deleting my account and unbookmarking SanJoseInside.
I thought everyone here should be aware of this fact. If you were wondering if SanJoseInside is either a) A News Site that alters user posts or b) A News Site that doesn’t alter user posts, they are definitely choice (a).
Feel free to ignore or discuss.
#6—many of us remember the low ball bid to construct our trolley. And, the projected ridership numbers were highly inflated.No reason to suspect otherwise re BART, is there?
#8—wanna bet about whether construction costs come within current budget figures bandied about, about the accuracy of the ridership projections, about the annual operating costs, and about the % of costs covered by the fare box?
Tony D –
It is funny to see you ask someone else to cite where they get their information when you fail to offer up anything other than worthless slogans. Check out this website, http://www.math.com. The site provides remedial reviews for people like yourself who don’t seem to grasp the concept. Once you have had time to review, perhaps you could finally answer the question about how VTA comes up with $50 million per year when the proposed tax only generates $44 million?
Or, you could just continuebto evade the real questions, stick your tail between your legs, and don’t come back until November to take your verbal whooppin from all of us once your beloved BART proposal is once again shot down at the ballot box.
#15 Finfan and #13 Kenny
I am not sure what happened in each case you relate. We never change anything anyone writes by adding anything. However, on rare occasions and in the judgement of the person vetting comments, we will edit out a word or phrase that is blatantly in violation of our policy where the rest of the post is OK. Sometimes, also rare, an entire comment gets deleted for the same reason. As far as I know, nothing by Finfan has every been deleted or edited, and he will remember that I have defended his right to say what he has several times, even though I did not agree with his opinion.
In Kenny’s case, I don’t know the answer. I do not remember any specific incident in his case. However, I will remind you Kenny that this is a privately-owned, moderated forum and we reserve the right to edit out any word or phrase or delete an entire comment that in the opinion of the moderator is in violation of our published policy. We don’t need anyone’s permission. If a regular blogger identifies him/herself and posts a real email address, I try and contact that person and explain the circumstances of any edit or deletion. In your case, you post anonymously and without contact information, making it impossible to do so.
Tony, I don’t care about your personal opinion of Bay Rail Alliance. You were asked to explain to the group why you think that their argument is flawed. “BayRailAlliance is irrelevant as a transit group; they’ve hated BART since day one!” is not going to cut it. You’ll have to explain the flaw in their reasoning if you want to be taken seriously.
Jack, you said @ #18 :“you [Kenny] post anonymously and without contact information…”
Does that mean one can post to this blog without providing an email address?
#23 Kenny
You can always contact me on my email listed on my author page:
[email protected]
I think you probably answered your own original question in point 2.
#21 Jack: WOW! A complete lack of accountability.
JohnMichael #20
Yes. You just have to fill in the “name” box.
VTA General Manager Michael Burns will be the guest speaker at this coming Friday’s meeting of La Raza Roundtable.
https://larazaroundtable.org/News.html
(click OK when you’re bugged about invalid web site certificates.)
WHEN: Friday, August 29, 2008 at 5:30pm
WHERE: Center for Training and Careers (CTC), 1600 Las Plumas Avenue, San Jose.
GETTING THERE: The VTA’s 77 bus stops within one block of the CTC, on King Road and Las Plumas. Walk one long block west (away from the foothills) – the CTC is at the corner on the left side.
Burns is expected to talk about the 3 ballot measures (B, C, and D) VTA has on the November ballot. Burns could also talk about the possibility of a VTA system strike. (The ATU local 265 vote on that strike is this coming Wednesday.)
This is well worth going to if you are concerned about the potential strike and its mobility impact and/or the ballot measures.
On censorship:
1. Of course I don’t question the right of a privately owned forum to vet its contents. I understand media.
2. My post was definitely altered to remove a questionable racial referrence. I don’t even defend the term I used—just noticed that the omission changed the meaning of my post.
3. I do apologize for posting anonymously—I fully comprehend how I make the situation more difficult for myself by doing so. Though not necessarily relevant, I will disclose that I got into the habit of doing so on multiple forums solely to protect my family from Little Saigon supporters when I was critical of Barry Dong Ho. I’m not joking about that. I promise to come up with an anonymous e-mail to use in the future.