Is There Some Hope?
As we look at the past, it is important to remember that the same leadership (I use the term loosely) that presided over the sad demise of San Jose’s credibility in the last decade was the predominant force on the VTA Board. This is not much to inspire confidence or faith in anything, let alone a leap of faith like BART.
Let’s examine the priorities. Our new California Transportation Commission (CTC) member, Carl Guardino, was so right in warning that in tough times, it is the lowest priorities—the pet projects and developer-induced ones—that get cut, not the people’s highest priority, namely BART, with all its inherent problems of financing, timing, routing, and the distinct possibility that it will destroy the village (i.e. downtown) to putatively save it.
Guardino then chastised those who would subvert the needs of the regions for selfish, short-term interests and abandon San Jose State University, downtown, and the important connection to the airport. It was a predictable, provocative, yet timely response.
Although new CTC General Manager Michael Burns seems to be on the right track, did it really take him 18 months to come to this obvious decision that most had made instinctively years ago? Not exactly “rail science,” Mr. Burns, and not the type of decisive leadership that the situation called for either. Combine this with the questionable, lobbyist-tainted decisions on certain VTA land—like the deal with Republic Land Company (an inexperienced group who then donated fifty thousand dollars to the local Democratic Party juice machine) on the San Carlos Street site—and it does little to inspire confidence. There must be additional reforms, and soon.
This is not an era of faith. Trust and its associated imperative confidence in government are in free fall. BART is a very big question mark and, although it is supported by a majority of our citizens, it may not happen. Remember that with billions to spend in the center of Silicon Valley, our own VTA—remunerated with the highest salaries and served by consultants of all stripes—is confused and ossified. Look to history: in the middle of a great war, the transcontinental railroad was finished in 3½ years—quite an enviable record. Our VTA must reach back and provide, at long last, some principled and inspired leadership. It can be done; they don’t have the Rockies to cross and Robert E. Lee opposing them.
Continue, Mr. Burns, for the hour is late.
Tom:
You assert that the majority of “our” citizens support BART. I don’t believe that. If you’re basing this on the passage of the 2000 Measure A, then let me remind you that that measure included lots of non-BART goodies so that the rest of the county would vote for it. Trust me, Palo Alto and Mountain View were not voting for BART, they were hoping that if it passed then, maybe, long suffering Caltrain riders might see some improvements. If you think North or South county supports BART, then I’d like to sell you a bridge in Brooklyn.
Last year, voters voted down an ill-conceived sales tax increase, in part because it was a bailout of the too-expensive BART project. Voters, who already pay a high county sales tax rate, did see a reason to pay more. Better, cheaper alternatives have been proposed to build rapid transit [see http://www.bayrailalliance.org/caltrain_metro_east ] but for Carl and his buddies on the VTA board it’s BART or bust.
Hugh
Tom,
Simply put, let those who use BART fund it. That translates into billing the commuters from Alameda County and beyond and Carl’s SVLG consituents who will benefit from the larger labor pool.
Huh? A very confusing post.
BART, the people’s highest priority????
If I want to go to Oakland on public transportation, I can take the train. Likewise if I want to go to Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Fransisco, Stockton, Sacramento, and many cities in between, I can take the train. If I want to get around Silicon Valley on public tranportation, VTA is available. As long as these modes exist, I will NOT vote to fund BART to San Jose/Santa Clara.
I wrote “Voters, who already pay a high county sales tax rate, did see a reason to pay more. ” Obviously I meant to say Voters, who already pay a high county sales tax rate, did NOT see a reason to pay more.”
D’oh!
This is the breakdown of the responses to the Grand Jury VTA report’s recommendation to shelve BART: San Jose and the VTA board rejected it – Morgan Hill, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Saratoga, Santa Clara, and Palo Alto. either supported it or requested further study. Measure A passed because it promised a bunch of goodies not only BART.
Can we get over this dream of being part of the Bay Area simply by having a BART connection? Do we feel left out or something? Like others have said, let the riders in Alameda and Contra Costa counties fund their extra-wide space rail if they want to come to San Jose. Better yet, how about we consolidate all these rail services into one project with one name. I’d rather spend fewer dollars to connect VTA light rail to the BART terminus in Fremont and repaint every train in the area so as to fool the bright-eyed tools who think BART will make SJ a big city since they don’t realize we already have rail service (or at least the existing rail lines) which serve the exact purpose proposed by the BART-lovers.
I think the days of Santa Clara Valley taxpayers funding BART are gone. Carl should look for new interests.
BART is a very big question mark and, although it is supported by a majority of our citizens, it may not happen
First, I doubt if most people support BART since very few people use it. They might support it in an abstract sense, but only so long as somebody else pays for it. BART supporters are being disingenuous when they say passage of prop A shows a majority support BART to San Jose.
However, even if a majority of voters do support BART to San Jose that does not mean it is the right thing to do.
Now if this was about BART down the west side of the Bay, and connecting San Jose to San Francisco, with stops in between, then that would be viable project, and worth doing.
Hello,
I’m happy with Caltrain, BART (Millbrae to SFO) and 17 Express, for it gets me from my Santa Cruz home to SFO in less than 3 hours and for about $6 (with senior discount).
I don’t need more BART, but if you people want to pay for more, that’s OK with me.
PGP of Santa Cruz
Tom:
I think your myopic vision and your inability to think big is what has rendered you a side show to truly important things going on in this valley.
BART should and must come to San Jose less we be mirred in gridlock for the rest of our lives.
Tom-
You can’t pay bills with “vision”.
If you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money. The VTA doesn’t have enough money to pay for BART, and never did.
The other projects on the list just aren’t that big. The only large one is light rail to east San Jose, and that is only a half billion.
You’re 3 billion in the red. You can’t close that by getting rid of 50 million for Dumbarton rail.
Greg
More and more I hear and read that this thing or that thing should be (or has been)put to a vote of the people. Do y’all get the idea that a lot of us don’t trust our elected officials to do what’s right FOR US instead of what’s right FOR THEM AND FOR THEIR MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS?
I guess I’ll have to represent the thousands who support BART to SJ and who don’t blog on this site. 2000’s Measure A passed because of BART, PERIOD! 71% on a special tax is unprecedented in our day and age, and it wasn’t because of light-rail, buses or Caltrain, it was because of BART! And I don’t want to hear about “Let Alameda Co. pay for it” or “Why should I pay for it if it doesn’t serve Gilroy, Los Gatos” Blah Blah Blah. That’s regional selfishness at its worst! The VTA audit said it itself…we must think big picture and regionally, not what’s in our back yard (Mr. Roadshow, March 07). In closing, and I said the same in last weeks Merc, focus all Measure A funds on BART to SJ and transforming Caltrain into true rapid transit (EMU’s) from Palo Alto to Gilroy. BART-lovers rejoice!
PGP 2: You must have a lot of time on your hands to think taking 3 hours to go from Santa Cruz to SFO is acceptable.
I can just see Joe Sixpack schlepping his wife, 2 kids, and all their baggage on 17 Express to Caltrain to BART for 3 hours to get to SFO and fly off to Disney World.
I’ll take the 45 minute shuttle van or a town car for whatever it costs. If I had 3 hours to kill, I’d rather get in a round of golf than spend it on 3 separate public transit systems.
Diffferent strokes, huh?
Anthony, you’re wrong that everyone voted for 2000 Measure A because of BART. The VTA’s web site [ ]http://www.vta.org/projects/measureafacts.html] lists the 2000 Measure A program:
“The Measure appeared in summarized form on the ballot as follows:
Connect BART to Milpitas, San Jose, Santa Clara;
Build rail connection from San Jose International Airport to BART, Caltrain, light rail;
Purchase vehicles for disabled access, senior safety, clean air buses;
Provide light rail throughout Santa Clara County;
Expand, electrify Caltrain;
Increase rail, bus service. “
That’s a lot more than BART. All of the other projects were necessary to convince voters across the county to vote for this thing.
This article sums up the whole BART thing:
http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2005/12_January/vtas_monomaniacal_manifest_destiny_bart_to_san_jose.htm
quote “So who the hell wants BART to San Jose? Mayor Gonzalez of San Jose and, of course, the folks at BART who wish to fulfill the manifest destiny of connecting BART to the South Bay. Never mind that standard gauge trains have amenities like laptop power, bathrooms, and food service. Ignore the fact that BART has an average speed of 45 mph and over longer distances is actually slower than driving. Overlook BART’s unique track width that makes it the most expensive heavy rail to construct and operate. Wink at BART’s sale/leaseback tactics to allow foreign companies avoid federal taxes. It is manifest destiny that BART makes it to San Jose. And the voters of Santa Clara County just may make this possible.”
Don’t forget to mention the misleading campaign for Measure A which sold itself with the slogan, “Traffic Relief, Now!” Noticed all that traffic relief that has occurred?? The main relief occurred only because of the economic slump and less people were driving because they didn’t have a job.
I would like public transportation to be able to get me around San Jose, let alone out of it.
#15 Hey, what’s the hurry! Life’s too short to be always in a rush. Finished a couple of sodukos and enjoyed the view of Silicon Valley from the train. On the way home from SFO met a Swedish electronics engineer living in San Mateo. Introduced him to the young Swedish traveler sitting next to me who wanted to know how to get to Santa Cruz. Told him just to follow me. He was astounded how green and full of trees the journey over 17 was, since it was still icy at his home.
Two gripes:
1. Why is the escalator at Millbrae going down while everyone is going up three flights of steps.
2. Everyone wearing i-pods drives me nuts! People should be mingling and have conversations that make public transportation journey more interesting.
In the long run we must all change. Everyone driving along in their autos cannot continue. Gas is well above $3/gallon and its not yet summer season. Gridlock everywhere!
In ‘62 drove from Surf City to Kifer Road in no time. Sometime hit 85mph on Saratoga Road before there were any traffic lights, just rows of trees and orchards along the way (and no cops). In ‘72 commuted to Maude in Sunnyvale, usually in 42 minutes. Four years later the trip took about an hour. Later, when 680 opened up (and 101 interchange was stopped by Jerry) commuted 62 miles to Lawrence Livermore in one and a quarter hours. Then got wise and found a governmnet job just four minutes from home
(could not fathom my bosses and retired at 55).
Just returned from my Europe trip. Sat on the German ICE train where I could see the speed display in the vestibule. The fastest speed was 290km/hour (180mph) and smooth as silk and silent, no clickety-clacks (track is fine tuned, no cargo trains allowed). Only gripe was that it was too fast and going through too many tunnels and ditches to really enjoy the scenery.
Didn’t have such a problem on Caltrain or Amtrak. ha ha.
My suggestion is to electrify Caltrain (and all passenger and cargo trains) in California to reduce the noise, free up diesel fuel for cars and trucks, reduce train operating costs to effectively compete against Southern truckers (that would reduce traffic). Electric power would come from wind, solar, geo, wave (even nuclear fusion).
PGP2
Short memories… Measure A was originally going to address only BART. The proponents recognized early on that it would fail at the ballot box; thus, the addition of all sorts of other transportation goodies.
Anthony #21, you have it exactly backwards. A BART-only tax would not get the required 2/3, so they had to add the other projects to entice the folks who would not benefit from BART to vote for it. #22 is correct when pointing out that lots of folks who actually use transit around here view the BART project for the boondoggle that it is. I’d trust their judgement any day over Carl’s
OK – let’s see if I can summarize here: we can’t afford BART now, but are tying up money – at the expense of other projects – until it is built – maybe 10 years or more – after we have raised additional funds to build it and more money to operate it. Talk about delayed gratification!
GH #20 and HJ #16,
Even shorter memories…1996’s Measure A. This 10 year transportation tax would have never garnered the 3/4 supermajority necessary for passage…so enter Measure B to save the day. Without BART, 2000’s Measure A probably experiences the same fate as 96’s; 51% voting for (far short of the 3/4 supermajority). Add BART and you get a whopping 71% voting for!! No advisory measure necessary or violation of Prop. 218… enough said!
I lived in SF when BART was built. Nightmare on Market Street…for YEARS. Many small businesses went under, and we can expect the same in S Jay if the Santa Clara St. Route is selected and built. Great, a couple of BILLION in RDA $$ down the rathole.
No rail system of public transit should ever be built where every train stops at every station; it’d be another snails pace version of our little trolleys in the downtown “transit mall”; slow trains, going from nowhere to nowhere, mostly empty; but these BART trains have the added cache of being incompatible with any other rail transit system. Yeah, that’‘s a GREAT idea.
DUH!
When real BART to San Jose construction costs of $8-12 billion and yearly 30-50 million unfunded operating costs are disclosed BART will be dead
VTA BART operating agreement requires all operating losses to be paid by VTA which will bankrupt VTA
Who will use BART? – Very few Santa Clara residents and it does not go to the 3 high traffic local destination areas – airport, Valley Fair/ Santana Row and few blocks of most San Jose jobs mostly useless
If BART is built most Santa Clara residents can still not get from home to jobs, stores or airport without many time wasting transfers, and twice commute time as using a car and VTA will not have the money for operating or constructing connecting public transit
Many of the proponents of BART are badly misinformed as to real costs, transit times and usability and most have never used local public transit on a daily basis
Many BART opponents are actual public transit users aand advocates who understand good transit planning and operations and see VTA Board politicans as clueless as to BART finances and how to operated a good public transit system as both the Civil Grand Jury and consultants clearly point out how bad is VTA Board and VTA public transit operations
Ask any national transit expert or the recent VTA consultants and they will tell you BART as proposed is a VTA financial disaster
Who is pushing this disaster – naive local politicans, few unknowledgable people and Silicon Valley Leadeship Group who has NO real transit experience or understand the costs
You all have a myopic view of BART. Why not compare this system to other underground all over the globe, most very successful?
Sure there are many controversial construction programs (Amsterdam’s North-South system under the canals is one, LA Red and Blue Lines was another) but in the end most people appreciate alternate ways of getting to destinations. Without BART traffic around SF Bay area would be much worse, kind of like Silicon Valley traffic is now.
San Francisco is encouraging public transport by charging one Dollar for 20 minutes parking at meters. Cost me $20 to park four hours in a downtown SF garage. (It was worth it, got my new passport the same day). Just wait, they’ll soon replicate these rates in San Jose.
If you’re worried about lack of ridership read this recent article about the Washington DCs Metro (a copy of BART, but with most stations looking the same). Yesterday DC Metro had over 750,000 riders.
Was most impressed with Munich and Berlin public transport. They have Intercity Express trains, Regional Express, S-Trains, U-Underground, trolleys, buses (some doubledecker and articulated).
By the way, the trolleys are nearly silent, they don’t squeal going around sharp bends like some in SF.
My hometown Salzburg has silent Omni buses (with two sticks in the back contacting overhead wires). Also the streets are smooth as glass, not the huge potholes we have here in Santa Cruz.
Right now many of our Federal legislators are tripsying all over globe looking at public transport. Hope they pick up some good ideas and spend some on our infrastructure instead of wasting it in the Middle East.
Why not look 20 or 30 years into the future instead of the next five years?? Hopefully most of us will still be around then. The way the Dollar is going, five or ten Billion will just be chump change.
PGP2
PGP2, have you been reading anything thus far? All that traffic you speak of is caused by people coming into the valley for work. Those people live in other counties. The taxes which they pay would not go towards a BART extension. What a wonderful world where you get to use something for free, no?
Sorry!
Forgot to add link to article about Washington Metro underground ridership.
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2007/04/02/daily13.html
If Santa Clara 49er stadium and the As stadium arrives in SouthBay, how long do you want to be stranded on the freeways after the game ends? You might not be interested in the games, but you’ll be stuck in traffic just the same.
PGP2
Nam Turk #27—PGP lives in Santa Cruz and came to work in the valley while he still worked. Now that he’s retired, he doesn’t mind taking 3 different public transit modes for 3 hours to get from home to SFO.
He probably would vote against any widening of 17, as well.
PGP2: The proposed 49ers stadium is near two freeways along with VTA Light Rail (which connects to Caltrain) and ACE Rail. The A’s can’t move to the South Bay, but they’ll have their precious BART already in Fremont (albeit extremely far from the stadium site). Try again.
PGP2-
Don’t confuse support for BART with support for public transit.
Many of the strongest opponents of BART to SJ are also very strong public transit advocates. Stuart Cohen of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition is one example. Former BART board member Roy Nakedegawa is another.
The question for them is not whether BART-
SJ would be nice. It is whether it is worth the cost to other public transit.
BART-SFO decimated the SamTrans budget. As a result, bus service in San Mateo County has been set back years.
Before BART-SJ, there was a fully funded project to build commuter rail to connect the same corridor. That system was planned to open in 2004. You can’t ride those trains today because the project was cancelled to get more money for BART.
As someone who has helped monitor VTA since the peak of 2000 Measure A, I kept asking myself if anyone on here (besides perhaps Hugh) has ever spoken at a VTA Board meeting or workshop. Many people I have talked to never knew VTA was managed by a Board. More disturbing was that many I have spoken to never knew that VTA makes its decisions every 1st Thursday of the month at the County Supervisors Chambers near the Civic Center light rail station.
I have found that despite all the support of transit in the Valley over the years, it’s come down to the same few transit advocacy groups in demanding accountability. It was the motivation for me to start SCVTARU back in 2000. Then, the public had no way in making VTA accountable directly, which is what I wanted to try to change.
The audit and its aftermath ought to be a wakeup call for every resident in the Valley to start holding VTA and its management more accountable. This Thursday’s VTA Board meeting – where they will discuss the “COA” bus restructuring plan on agenda item 14 – is a good start. Don’t forget also that VTA allows two minutes of public comment at the start of all Board meetings and workshops.
Specific information on VTA’s bus restructuring plan will be at http://www.vtaridersunion.org by tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, here’s a one-stop area where you can hold VTA accountable NOW:
http://www.vtaridersunion.org/DIY/
#31 GP,
“The question for them is not whether BART-SJ would be nice. It is whether it is worth the cost to other public transit.” Let’s see here…packed BART trains during commute hours, packed BART parking lots OR virtually empty VTA buses/light rail cars and VTA park and ride lots occupied with 1-2 cars? Hmm, seems like BART is worth the cost to me. Sometimes Greg, you get what you pay for. Again people, like PGP2 stated, we must think big picture and 20-30 years down the road, not a mere 5 years out. JM O’Connor, haven’t you noticed, Market Street SF has been doing quite well now for a number of years because of BART…if only Santa Clara Street SJ could be so lucky. And as for #30 Nam Turk, the proposed A’s Cisco Field at Pacific Commons Fremont IS considered a part of the South Bay…hence our future San Jose A’s of Fremont!
#29 You’re right! Nothing wrong with 17. It’s a beautiful mountain highway. Could use a few truck lanes on the steepest parts, but otherwise it’s just fine.
Thirty years ago when I commuted over the hill there were no center barriers, a fair number of head-ons each month. The road was quite scary. I wasn’t smart or rich enough to attend UCSC, so drove the 25 miles to SJ State in half an hour. The GI Bill paid the tab. Spent a lot of time at the Student Union playing Atari Space Invaders. Worked at Data Disk and then GTE Novar, later six months at Lawrence Livermore Labs (a fascinating place to work).
Really glad to get local jobs, mostly for the City of Santa Cruz. Interesting job, but lousy bosses, so retired at 55.
In the long run (20 or 30 years) there should be either standard rail (via existing tunnels) through the mountain or a new highway over (or partially through) the hills connecting Aptos to South San Jose (bypassing Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley).
Santa Cruz needs light rail along the Coast. The existing Union Pacific track is for sale cheap. It runs from Watsonville Station, (connecting to the Amtrak Coast Route)through La Selva, Aptos, Capitola, Live Oak, along the Boardwalk up to Davenport, also along Chestnut Street, under Mission Hill up to Felton. It’s one of the most scenic routes imaginable, a fantastic resource that should be developed now.
I’d like to propose a rail extension along the San Lorenzo River levee up to UCSC that would negate traffic jams on the City’s West Side.
Once Caltrain is extended all the way to Salinas this scenic route will be real popular with our Silicon Valley neighbors.
The more affluent neighbors like John (#15 and #29) might take the resurrected train to Monterey for a few rounds of golf.
Around the turn of the previous century, there was Express rail service from San Francisco to Felton in less than two hours.
The Old Man would visit his family on weekends. Before air conditioning many San Joachin Valley families would escape the heat and stay all summer along the foggy Coast, the wealthy on the Monterey Peninsula, the middle class along Santa Cruz beaches. Southern Pacific RR would send the Watsonville Band whistle stopping around the Valleys drumming up business for Santa Cruz and the railroads.
Read in today’s paper that the France’s TGV train hit a new speed record of 355 miles per hour. Tom McE please note, Santa Cruz would be just a 10 minute commute away!
PGP2
AD#33: Yes, some parts of Market St. SF are doing well, but it ain’t BECAUSE OF BART. That fallacy is commonly called post hoc ergo propeter hoc, which roughly means, just because something happened after an event does not mean it was caused by the event. But Market between 5th and Castro is still a toilet.
PGP2 #34: I’m almost 61 and not nearly affluent enough to retire now, let alone @ 55 as you did. Maybe it was all the $$ you saved on gas and parking @ SFO
#35.
Retired at 55 cause I had a great interesting overnment job (fixing pumps, electrical, electronics, keeping water flowing) but couldn’t stand my bosses. You might not be able to live on my retirement (I’m single), but I’m not complaining.
Figure it out! My Quest gets less than 16mpg (in town) @3.20/gln thats 20 cents a mile just for gas. Surf City to SFO is about 60 miles each way. That’s $24 for gas plus parking. As senior paid about $6 each way using 17 Express, Caltrain and BART.
There’s a big advantage for using rail transportation that’s overlooked, especially when commuting: It’s nearly always on time.
When using auto during rush hour you have to leave plenty early in case there’s a jam. Even if traffic is clear you wasted much time. When using rail that has right-of way, you know when it leaves and when it arrives. There are no worries, its relaxing, you and read the paper or a book along the way. Caltrain used to be nearly empty but now its almost full. The 17 Express only had a few empty seats. The ride over the hill with all the greenery (that I never noticed when driving myself) was beautiful.
PGP2