Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Downtown San Jose businesses: let's screw transit riders

Last week, VTA staff has approved a temporary relocation plan for bus stops on 1st and 2nd streets in preparation for the platform retrofit at the Santa Clara light rail station, according to sources at VTA.

The Santa Clara light rail station is scheduled to be closed on January 2nd and the bus stops will be relocated on the north side of Santa Clara Street to make room for construction. The construction will take approximately five months.

The downtown businesses nearby are lobbying VTA to make these relocations permanent: the bus stops will remain on the north side of Santa Clara Street after the light rail station reopens. The businesses apparently believe the bus stops are a nuisance and attract a "wrong" crowd.

On the other hand, the Santa Clara light rail station is the major transit center in the entire county. If the plan becomes permanent, it will sever the cross platform connection (as originally intended) between light rail and many of the major bus lines. It will also make transfers, made by thousands of riders daily, difficult and confusing.

The downtown businesses aren't interested in having a sustainable and socially just VTA, and they don't mind screwing everyday transit riders.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

A new day

With the election of Chuck Reed as the mayor of San Jose, let's hope that it is the end of Gonzales-style backroom politics and last-minute memos at VTA.