SANTA CLARA VTA RIDERS UNION P. O. Box 390069 Mountain View, CA 94039-0069 http://www.vtaridersunion.org/ NEWS RELEASE TO: Editor, News Assignment Desk, Transportation Reporter * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * Press Contact (in alphabetical order): Eugene Bradley 24 hr. cell/pager (408)888-2208 email: eegenebradley@yahoo.com SILICON VALLEY TRANSIT PRIORITIES OUT OF LINE Group Wants Officials To Focus 30-Year Plan on Buses, Commuter Rail For Entire Valley SUNNYVALE, CA (April 23, 2004) - The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU - http://www.vtaridersunion.org/) today calls upon the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA - http://www.vta.org/) to ensure that state and federal funding for bus and commuter rail service as top priority in its 30-year long range transportation plan. The VTA will discuss its long-range transportation plan, known as VTP 2030 (http://www.vtp2030.org/) on Friday, April 23 at the Mediterranean Room of the Hyatt Regency Hotel at 1740 North First Street in San Jose. The meeting will begin promptly at 8:30am and SCVTARU anticipates it will last until noon. With state and federal funding for the BART to San Jose project still uncertain, it is shocking that VTA continues to place BART to San Jose as highest priority in VTP 2030. Meanwhile, VTA is facing a $100 million shortfall which has resulted in 20% public transit service reductions as well as two (2) fare hikes since April 2001 - five months after voters passed Measure A - also known as the "BART Tax" - which contained improvements for commuter rail and buses. (http://www.vtaridersunion.org/docs/2000MeasureA.pdf - Adobe Acrobat PDF file with ballot text of 2000 Measure A.) According to a VTA Board workshop on February 27, VTA has selected the following default funding priorities and rankings based on information obtained in the November 7, 2003 VTA workshop: VTP2030 TRANSIT PROJECT RANKING BY PRIORITIZATION CRITERIA ========================================================== TIER 1 ------ Ranking 1 - BART to Milpitas, San Jose, and Santa Clara Ranking 2 - Downtown East Valley (DTEV) - Capitol Expressway Light Rail to Eastridge Ranking 3 - Downtown San Jose/East Valley Light Rail - Santa Clara/Alum Rock Corridor Ranking 4 - Bus Rapid ransit (Line 22, Monterey Highway, Line 23 Stevens Creek Blvd.) TIER 2 ------ Ranking 5 - Caltrain Service Upgrades Ranking 6 - Zero Emission Buses and Facilities Ranking 7 - Mineta San Jose International Airport People Mover Ranking 8 - Caltrain - South County Ranking 9 - Highway 17 Express Bus Service Improvements TIER 3 ------ Ranking 10 - Dumbarton (Commuter) Rail Ranking 11 - Palo Alto Intermodal Transit Center Ranking 12 - ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) Upgrades Ranking 13 - New Rail Corridors (Other Corridors) Ranking 14 - New Rail Corridors (Downtown San Jose/East Valley - Capitol Expwy. to Eastridge to Highway 87) Ranking 15 - Caltrain Electrification Tier 1 projects are VTA's top priorities that they feel are most likely to receive (scarce) state and federal funding. Tier 2 and Tier 3 projects are lower ranked and thus are lower priority in receiving (scarce) state and federal funding. According to analysis done by SCVTARU members and supporters, VTA's prioritization proposal is flawed in several areas: * State and federal funding are still uncertain for BART to San Jose. Yet, BART to San Jose remains top priority. * This being the VALLEY Transportation Authority, many projects that benefit the entire Valley and the Bay Area region (i.e. Caltrain, Dumbarton Bridge commuter rail, and Altamont Commuter Express [ACE] commuter rail) for a fraction of the cost of BART are placed in the lower tiers. * The atttributes used to rank each project above at the November 7, 2003 VTA workshop (congestion relief, land use, etc) fail to mention whether the highest points or the lowest score served as the basis for ranking. So for all SCVTARU knows, the proposed priorities list is based on political backing, not how each project will relieve gridock and how cost-effective it would be. Throughout the public comment process VTA has held, SCVTARU members and supporters have brought up these very points - only to be met with silence from the VTA Board of Directors. SCVTARU led a campaign where concerned citizens can provide input into VTP 2030. (http://www.vtaridersunion.org/regional/vtp2030.html) Given VTA's out-of-control spending habits and misplaced priorities, SCVTARU fears that VTA will be forced to eliminate all bus and light rail service in the Valley to ensure BART to San Jose gets fully funded. This will make Silicon Valley no better than Montgomery, Alabama in terms of availability of public transit. "Once the buses and trains are gone, Silicon Valley will be dead as an economic engine to this country and the world," said SCVTARU Founder Eugene Bradley on VTA's shortsightedness of their proposed long-range transportation plan. "VTA's proposed long-range plan is a recipie for failure." What SCVTARU finds more disturbing is that public comment for VTP 2030 did not appear on the public information packets typically sent a week before VTA Board meetings and workshops. Per memo, public comment on VTP 2030 would be given out at the meeting. SCVTARU suspects VTA is using this strategy of keeping the public "in the dark" about comments on VTP 2030 which differ from their "default" priorities - a strategy used to quash public dissent and input on the plan. We hope VTA comes to its senses and places buses and commuter rail for the entire county at Friday's important VTA workshop. Most importantly, we hope VTA does not stifle public comment different from its priorities in the process of forming a long range transportation priority plan. ### About the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union -------------------------------------- Founded in October 2000 by Eugene Bradley, the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union is a grassroots-based organization dedicated to ensuring that elected officials improve and implement cost-effective, frequent, and reliable mass transit in Santa Clara County. Our web site is at www.vtaridersunion.org. We are based in Sunnyvale, CA. Our organization has absolutely no affiliation with, nor is endorsed by, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in any way whatsoever. Note to Editors and News Desks: More information on SCVTARU can be found at the following URLs: http://www.vtaridersunion.org/whoarewe/who.html http://www.vtaridersunion.org/PR