July 25, 2008

District 8 Report

The great train robbery

By Vice Mayor Dave Cortese
Special to the Times

One of the key defining characteristics of a great city is a comprehensive mass transit system and San Jose needs to stand firm on such investments. In this era of increased fuel prices, mass transit plays a critical role in helping residents travel in a manner that will not hit us in the pocketbooks.

As some of you may know, Eastridge is the busiest transit hub in the entire county—-nowhere else in Silicon Valley do more people use public transportation. So far, all of these transit riders have been served by local bus systems. Line 22, which departs from Eastridge, transporting workers to North San Jose and to the northern parts of our county, is by far the busiest line in the valley. Without it, VTA would literally be unable to exist economically.

So something new has been planned and engineered to make the Eastridge hub even more functional. VTA is scheduled to break ground soon on a major light rail extension, which would bring light rail along Capitol Expressway to Eastridge Mall, connecting our busy transit hub (and our hardworking residents) with the Capitol and Tasman lines, the Caltrain station, downtown and in fact all other major rail extensions—including the future BART line. It would also allow shoppers to shop, skateboarders to reach the regional skate park and weekend travelers to save on expensive gasoline. You, the voters of Santa Clara County, approved the funding of this extension in the year 2000 via a sales tax called Measure A. All in all, this is a $334 million dollar transit investment in our side of town, the first of its kind, ever! The job creation alone from this major investment would be a major boost to the economy.

As a member of the City Council and the VTA Board since 2001, I have worked very hard on the development of this project, from station design to pedestrian access to sidewalk improvements along Capitol Expressway so the entire area can be reconstructed to be safe and efficient for everyone—pedestrians, bicyclists, buses, light rail and of course, automobiles. Tragically, several pedestrian deaths have occurred on the expressway recently and this new project will make it safe, walkable and visually pleasing. The goal is to transform this expressway into a tree-lined boulevard that is pleasant for travel and encourages new retail outlets like the Macaroni Grill, Chevy’s and the new Beshoff car dealerships we’ve seen lately.

So what is the hold-up? This project is fully funded. The EIR is done. The engineers have finished their work. There should be no delays to breaking ground next year and reaching completion in 2012.

Sounds good, right? Wrong!

Recently VTA staff suspended work on this proposed light rail extension, without a vote, despite the fact that:

1. It is otherwise ready to break ground.

2. Residents in the east valley have been waiting patiently for it while watching other extensions get built such as the Vasona and Tasman lines – lines with lower rider ship than what is projected here.

3. It was rated one of the highest priority projects in the county when the VTA first studied possible Measure A projects in 1999.

4. Millions of dollars have been invested into scoping, environmental clearance, etc.

5. Stakeholders have been working for years on station design, access, etc.

Why? Citing a poor economy, the VTA wants to cut one of the most highly anticipated projects in our county in order to balance the books. Most outrageous has been the quiet suggestion that if you cut this extension, you can build BART to San Jose. That is false. The BART project – equally important and vital to our residents’ travel needs and the region’s economic health - is projected to cost nearly $6 billion dollars (of which we only have about 75 percent of the funding). It is not even scheduled to break ground until 2016. The savings from killing the Eastridge light rail extension will not fully fund BART nor will it stop BART from happening. BART must stand on its own. Raiding other regional projects that serve neighborhoods is simply not OK. Especially a project that is much needed and ready to go.

Adding insult to injury, as if cutting light rail to Eastridge weren’t enough, there are further talks of floating a second sales tax measure this November to help pay for future VTA projects (light rail to Eastridge not being on the list). This is nonsense. VTA went to you and me, the voters, in 2000 and urged us to pass Measure A, promising the Eastridge line and many others. Eight years later, VTA says they won’t deliver on the original promise but they want you, the voters, to pass a second measure in order to fund operating expenses. What trust is there that the projects we want will actually come about?

We deserve better. You and I are paying as much or more in sales tax as anyone in the county and we deserve the same access to transportation options as the rest of the valley. Between this light rail extension, which is already paid for, the planned improvements to the Highway 101/Tully, interchange (also already paid for and scheduled to break ground next year) and the future improvements to the Highway 101/Yerba Buena/Capitol interchange—our quality of life will be dramatically improved.

I urge you to stand with me and express your outrage at these tactics because this is nothing more than robbing Peter to pay Paul. The VTA Board is scheduled to discuss this matter at their August 7th meeting. Let the Board know that District 8 residents will not accept the elimination of this light rail extension. Such tactics only serve to break faith with the voters and we will not support another sales tax measure if elimination is approved. The City of San Jose has five members on the VTA Board – please email and call their offices and ask them to support keeping this important extension:

- Mayor Chuck Reed
mayoremail@sanjoseca.gov
(408) 535-4800

- Councilmember Forrest Williams
Forrest.williams@sanjoseca.gov
(408) 535-4902

- Councilmember Sam Liccardo
Sam.liccardo@sanjoseca.gov
(408) 535-4903

- Councilmember Nora Campos
District5@sanjoseca.gov
(408) 535-4905

- Councilmember Nancy Pyle
Nancy.pyle@sanjoseca.gov
(408) 535-4910

Let the VTA General Manager know, too:

- Michael Burns
Michael.burns@vta.org
(408) 321-2300

Also, please try to attend the Board Meeting on August 7th (5:30 p.m. at the County Building – 70 W. Hedding Street) and tell the Board in person that residents from the east valley will not be ignored or treated as second-class citizens. I hope we can stand together and help bring about this important transportation project. For more information, please contact me at dave.cortese@sanjoseca.gov or call (408) 535-4908.