MTC Transportation 2035 workshop tonight

MTC is seeking input on its regional Transportation 2035 plan at a workshop scheduled for tonight in San Jose:

Martin Luther King Library, Room 225, 2nd Floor
150 E. San Fernando Street, San Jose
Thursday, May 8, 2008 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Additional MTC workshops are scheduled throughout the Bay Area during the month of May.

Driving on the light rail track

After almost 20 years, some people, whether they're confused or drunk, ended up driving on the light rail track in downtown San Jose. This video was captured by a passenger late at night on 2nd Street at Santa Clara station.

Extra buses on route 168

According to an onboard take-one card, VTA has added extra buses on line 168 to meet passenger demand. These buses will supplement the 6:24 am and 6:54 am departures from Morgan Hill to Downtown San Jose.

The ridership on this line has increased steadily over the last few months as commuters are becoming familiar with the service and because of rising gas prices. Even so, some riders are still confused between the 168 and the regular 68. It is not unusual to see someone boarding the express bus even though they actually want the local bus.

Impacts of FTA charter bus rule changes

The FTA's new charter bus rule already has an impact in the Bay Area:

1. In Concord, the shuttle connecting between BART and the Sleep Train Pavilion is not longer free. Before the new ruling, the Pavilion management subsidized the shuttle. Passengers now has to pay the regular bus fare, but in an effort keep the passengers, the Pavilion staff will give coupons for free soft drinks to shuttle riders.


2. For the Bay to Breakers footrace on May 18, SamTrans will charge $4 one way/$8 roundtrip for its special service to the event. The fare is the same as its regular express bus fare to and from San Francisco. Last year, SamTrans charged $12 round trip for the same service. On the other hand, it is not clear at this point what measures Muni will take to make its Bay to Breakers service compliant with the new ruling.

VTA Board restructuring vote and more

VTA Board "restructuring"

This Thursday, the VTA Board will vote on three of the four elements of the proposal to tweak the VTA Board. The three elements to be voted include the 1) elimination of rotational representation by smaller cities, 2) reaffirm current policy of a two-year term but encourage cities to reappoint their representative to consecutive terms, 3) VTA Boardmembers should have prior experience on transportation policies (like serving on VTA PAC or CAC, or MTC, etc).

The final element, which would change city groupings by creating a city grouping just for south county, will be deferred until the August meeting.

Can't VTA put meeting notices on buses and light rail?

Two weeks ago, VTA staff claimed that it can accept any of the "Sunshine Laws" recommendations presented by VTA Riders' Union. As to placing meeting notices on buses and light rail, VTA says:

One method for placing notices on VTA bus and light rail (revenue) vehicles is using car cards. VTA contracts with an outside vendor to place and maintain all internal and external advertising on revenue vehicles. This includes car cards and external bus boards. Under the terms of the contract, VTA is allocated 15% of the eligible advertising space for its own use. VTA uses this space for rider information, public safety and promotional activities. Due to the high volume of rider information and promotional activities, VTA is frequently at or exceeding the 15% usage maximum. Therefore if the Board desires to place additional meeting notices using car cards, VTA would amend its contract with the vendor to open additional space. Any change to advertising space would result in a decrease of annual revenues through the advertising contract.

It appears that VTA uses much more than 15% of the car card spaces on buses and light rail for their own internal notices and promotions rather than paid advertising, which is actually rare.







Is VTA afraid of its riders attending board meetings and addressing directly to the board? Is VTA Board chair Liz Kniss annoyed to face everyday VTA riders?

Chuck Reed too chickened to face reality

Chuck Reed, which two years ago endorsed against the 2006 Measure A, expressed disappoinment last Friday that VTA couldn't carry on Ron Gonzales' "legacy":

"Clearly, BART is the No. 1 project," said Reed, a VTA board member. "That is what people voted for and it needs to go all way to Santa Clara. It doesn't make any sense to stop at Berryessa."

With the failure of the 2006 Measure A, clearly the voters no longer believe in the delusion promised in the 2000 Measure A. VTA tried to ignore the issue for years. While it is good for VTA to admit that the tax revenue is much lower than originally projected, and that BART costs a lot more, it is not good enough until the VTA board actually wakes up and does the right thing.

Since 2000, BART to San Jose has been a curse on VTA. Without digging any dirt for the BART extension, VTA's misguided priority has already screwed its passengers (especially the disabled) and its front line employees. Unfortunately, politicians like Chuck Reed know how to pander transit riders (and to others like the Vietnamese community) and then screw them once the politicians are voted into office.

Although other projects such as light rail extension to Eastridge and Caltrain double tracking in the South County are all wasteful and deserve to be on the chopping block, the BART extension is by far the most harmful, and that harm doesn't end once the construction completes. It is dishonest for the VTA Board to think that it can afford BART by getting rid of other non-BART projects, wasteful or not.

Chuck Reed, and the rest of the VTA Board, are too chickened to get rid of that curse.

Weekend downtown trackwork impacts light rail and Sharks game

In order to replace the rails at the curve in the intersection of 2nd Street and San Carlos, light rail service is being interrupted in downtown San Jose this weekend. Light rail from Mountain View and Alum Rock end at Japantown/Ayer, and light rail from Santa Teresa and Winchester end at Convention Center. A bus bridge will provide service between Civic Center and Convention Center, stopping at every light rail station in between.

To accomodate fans heading to the Shark Tank this Sunday for a playoff game, VTA will provide a bus bridge between Civic Center and San Fernando station, the closest to the Sharks Tank, for riders coming from North/East San Jose, Milpitas, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Mountain View. Riders from South San Jose and Campbell can take light rail to San Fernando station.

Besides the weekend trackwork, Curtner, Capitol, and Branham stations are closed for platform retrofit. Sharks fans can take a bus bridge from these stations to Tamien to catch the light rail, or just avoid these stations altogether. Other stations nearby offer plenty of free parking.

VTA Workshop changes location

Instead of the San Jose Holiday Inn on North 1st Street, the meeting location for tomorrow's Board workship has been changed to:

Silicon Valley Community Foundation
2440 West El Camino Real, Suite 300
Mountain View, California

The workshop is still scheduled to start 9:00am.

The location is within walking distance from the transit center at San Antonio Shopping Center.

A 1/4 cent tax increase is not enough

This Friday, VTA will hold a board workshop to discuss a "new" expenditure plan. At the workshop, the VTA staff will also present a financial analysis of the plan the board adopted June 2006. The analysis concludes:

"The evaluation shows that the additional revenue from a ¼-cent sales tax is insufficient to produce a solvent financial plan with the project schedules as adopted by the Board in June 2006."

It really doesn't have to take an outside consultant to know that the 1/4 cent sales tax increase wouldn't work. If the 2006 Measure A were not defeated, VTA would certainly be looking for another sales tax increase sometime in the next few years.

Despite reality, don't expect the VTA Board to do anything different. One of the elements in the proposed policy guidance is:

"Implement the Intent of Measure A

Includes only those projects in the Plan that have been approved by voters in the measure."

The 2000 Measure A was a complete disaster. Any proposed policy based on that Measure A will also be a complete disaster. It is time for VTA to start with a clean slate. Perhaps the VTA board should instead receive a history lesson on how this ill-conceived 2000 Measure A got pushed with false promises and rosy tax revenue projections.

VTA Riders' Union meeting

On the day before the VTA Board workshop, VTA Riders' Union will be holding a meeting at 6pm at Center for Training and Careers (CTC) on 1600 Las Plumas Avenue. One of the topics to be discussed is the lack of public outreach for the uninspired VTP 2035.

South Bay transit round-up

VTA Commitee Update

This Thursday, the Administration and Finance Commitee will decide whether to forward the "Board restructuring" proposal to the VTA Board. The restructuring proposal is merely a reshuffling of membership, and does nothing to address the flawed decision making process and conflict of interests between its role as a transit operator and as a congestion management agency (highway builders).

The Committee will also discuss the "Sunshine Laws" proposal suggested by the VTA Riders' Union. Specifically, the Riders' Union is requesting VTA to post upcoming board meetings inside VTA's vehicles as well as to tape closed sessions of board meetings and then release those to the public when the need for secrecy no longer exists. The VTA staff responds that posting public meetings onboard buses and light rail could violate the contract with its advertising agency. In regards to taping closed sessions, VTA argues against it because it may lead to information being leaked to the public prematurely if tapes are not being handled properly by the VTA staff.

Also on the meeting agenda is the approval of the sublease of the depot building at Palo Alto Caltrain to a cafe operator. The cafe operator will have free rent for the first six months to establish the business. The building has been vacant for the last few years. Part of the motivation to find a business to occupy that building is to make the restrooms there available to the public. Currently the only public restroom in the area is the "French toilet" between the bus transit center and the Red Cross.

Light Rail update


Even though the station has reopened, the work is not complete at Children's Discovery Museum station.


Is toppling trash bins a part of the demolition work at Curtner station?

Although the light rail trains don't stop at the closed stations, they're required to slow down to 15 mph while passing through the station. Signs have been installed to direct operators when to slow down and when to speed up.



The stop for the bus bridge at Ohlone/Chynoweth is on the same side of the station as the southbound platform.