tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11021719.post4620248490441548458..comments2024-03-01T02:02:02.520-08:00Comments on VTA Watch: VTA says it can afford BART to Milpitas without federal fundsaccountablevtahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14035365902584938185noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11021719.post-610296090531916962009-03-20T22:52:00.000-07:002009-03-20T22:52:00.000-07:00Note that "Face it, most people want this and you ...Note that "Face it, most people want this and you don't count anymore than they do." is not really an argument about whether it's the right answer. Bush was democratically elected (well once, anyway), and so was Hitler!<BR/><BR/>BART's total ridership is impressive, but most of it is concentrated in the core SF/Berkeley/Oakland triangle--or at least travel *to* those cities.<BR/><BR/>Ridership between suburban cities is not nearly so strong.<BR/><BR/>So what does this predict for hypothetical BART-to-SJ?<BR/><BR/>First of all, an extension to Milpitas and Warm Springs is likely to be pretty underwhelming.<BR/><BR/>An extension to downtown would be a bit more useful, but downtown SJ isn't *that* big a travel magnet. And BART really just isn't that fast (for long distances).<BR/><BR/>BART does a good job in *parts* of the Bay Area. I'm not convinced it would do such a good job in the south bay.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11276619955553290726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11021719.post-81305105583962409542009-03-20T19:26:00.000-07:002009-03-20T19:26:00.000-07:00By the way, good luck on trying to fool the feds f...By the way, good luck on trying to fool the feds for $750 million to get from Milpitas to Berryessa.accountablevtahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14035365902584938185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11021719.post-32453742538164379622009-03-20T19:19:00.000-07:002009-03-20T19:19:00.000-07:00Washington Metro: 106 miles and 798,456 riders dai...Washington Metro: 106 miles and 798,456 riders daily (more than double of BART given the same miles)<BR/><BR/>Drink your Guardino's BART Koolaid. There's no money for BART to Santa Clara no matter what. You lost! Voters are not going to raise another half a penny or more again to feed your downtown delusions for a rail system costing 5 fives more than the next alternative.<BR/><BR/>BART extension at any distance sucks, but at least an extension to Milpitas or Berryessa would get most of the utility with less harm to local bus service. No matter what, BART to anywhere will be a failure with that kind of price tag. Eventually someone would have to build a new high speed rail on the corridor because BART isn't up to the job.<BR/><BR/>Actually the real record of us against Guardino is 1 to 1. He lost his favorite 1/2 cent sales tax in 06, which would bring at least twice as much and still wouldn't be enough for your downtown delusion.accountablevtahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14035365902584938185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11021719.post-54111143260223723902009-03-20T18:57:00.000-07:002009-03-20T18:57:00.000-07:00haha, the judge didn't grant the caltrain loving p...haha, the judge didn't grant the caltrain loving people an injunction. First 2/3 of santa clara county votes against you, then a judge dismisses you and your friends for trying to find loopholes to stall the project. Face it, most people want this and you don't count anymore than they do. BART does a better job in the bay area. You just don't happen to live close to it, don't travel to the east bay, and want the funding for caltrain on the peninsula.<BR/><BR/>caltrain: 77.4 miles and 37,849 weekday passengers<BR/><BR/>BART: 104 miles and 374,949 weekday passengers (that's about 10 times as many passengers)<BR/><BR/>VTA Watch: 0-2 against BART<BR/><BR/>note: system length and ridership numbers taken from wikipedia, so they might not be completely accurate but are probably closeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com