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 Bradle 24 hr. cell/pager (408)888-2208 email: eegenebradley@yahoo.com WRONG PRIORITIES IN SILICON VALLEY LONG-TERM TRANSIT PLAN Transit Watchdog Group Urges VTA To Make Buses, Commuter Rail Top Priority For Long-Term Funding SUNNYVALE, CA (March 2, 2004) – The Santa Clara VTA Riders Union (SCVTARU – http://www.vtaridersunion.org/), a transit advocacy and watchdog group in Silicon Valley, today criticizes the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for its default priorities in its long-range transportation plan, known as VTP2030 (http://www.vtp2030.org/). The VTA's Board of Directors discussed VTP2030 at their Workshop last Friday morning in San Jose. During their discussion, VTA has placed funding for bringing BART to San Jose as its top priority. This despite the fact that state and federal funding for the project remains uncertain. Funding to keep VTA's buses and light rail running - as well as funding for Caltrain and the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) - are at the bottom of the priorities list. Here is the exact priority list, with projects and rankings – based on results from a VTA workshop on November 7, 2003: 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 LRT to Eastridge Ranking 3 - DTEV - Santa Clara/Alum Rock Corridor Ranking 4 - Bus Rapid transit (Line 22, Monterey, 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 (DTEV - Capitol Expwy. to Eastridge to Highway 87 Ranking 15 - Caltrain Electrification Tier 1 projects are the highest priority projects that are the first such projects to receive (scarce) state and federal funding. Projects in Tiers 2 and 3 are least likely to receive (scarce) state and federal dollars since they are at the lowest priority. Additional analysis on VTP2030 is available at http://www.vtaridersunion.org/regional/vtp2030.html. SCVTARU is shocked that VTA continues to prioritize the San Jose BART extension despite the continued uncertainty of state and federal funding for the project. In fact, the VTA Board of Directors will vote on spending another $14 million for preliminary engineering for the BART extension at their upcoming Board of Directors meeting on March 4 at 5:30pm at 70 W. Hedding Street in San Jose. On April 1, the VTA Board will vote on raising transit fares for the third time in as many years. SCVTARU fears the "BART At Any Cost" mindset instilled into VTA by BART supporters like the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group will only serve to destroy public transit in Silicon Valley. This "BART At Any Cost" mindset will only create more gridlock on our roads and more pollution in our air, making Silicon Valley unlivable and unfriendly to business. After cost overruns such as bond interest payments are factored in for the BART to San Jose project, at least $8 billion will have been paid by taxpayers over the next three decades on a white elephant that fails to relieve traffic. "What traffic will having BART in Silicon Valley relieve - when the only way you can get to the stations is in an automobile?" asks SCVTARU founder Eugene Bradley. To that end, SCVTARU urges every concerned citizen in Silicon Valley to attend the following meetings listed below. Starting with the first meeting TONIGHT at 6:00pm at the Great Mall in Milpitas, attendees should demand that VTA make better public transit for the entire Valley a top priority - such as buses, light rail like the Downtown/East Valley light rail extension, and commuter rail such as Caltrain, ACE and rail service near the Dumbarton Bridge. The meeting dates, times, and places are below: Tuesday, March 2, 2004 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Great Mall of the Bay Area, Community Room Entrance 1, Near Starbucks 447 Great Mall Drive Milpitas, CA *This location is served by VTA Bus Lines 66, 74 and 77 Wednesday, March 3, 2004 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Meeting Room, Suite B (225), Second Floor 150 E. San Fernando San Jose, CA *This location is served by VTA Bus Lines 63, 65, 73, 81 and DASH. Within one block: Lines 22 and 64. Within three blocks: Line 23, 66, 82, 85, 180, 304, 305, Hwy. 17 Express, and VTA Light Rail service (exit at either Santa Clara or Paseo de San Antonio Stations). Monday, March 8, 2004 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mountain View City Hall, Council Chambers 500 Castro Street Mountain View, CA *This location is served by VTA Bus Lines 22, 35, 51 and 52 Wednesday, March 10, 2004 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Campbell Library, Community Room 77 Harrison Avenue Campbell, CA *This location is served by VTA Bus Line 26 Thursday, March 11, 2004 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Morgan Hill City Hall, Council Chambers 17555 Peak Avenue Morgan Hill, CA *This location is served by VTA Bus Lines 15, 16 and 68 The Comite de Cesar Chavez Coalition invites you to attend a public meeting conducted in Spanish for the VTP 2030 at the following location, date and time: Tuesday, March 9, 2004 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mayfair Community Center 1039 Kammerer Avenue San Jose, CA *This location is served by VTA Bus Lines 22 and 70 SCVTARU reminds VTA that voters in Silicon Valley demanded a transportation system that was efficient and balanced in November 2000. To that end, SCVTARU asks concerned citizens to join us in demanding that VTA focus its long-term funding and goals on efficient, balanced, and cost-effective transportation solutions that will benefit all of Silicon Valley. ### 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