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BART to San Jose News and Hidden Facts on BART





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This area of our web site is dedicated to news and hidden facts about Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and the Valley Transportation Authority's goal of bringing the system to Santa Clara County.  The project is also known as the "Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Corridor."  Extensions of BART to SFO/Millbrae and the proposed BART extension to Warm Springs are also mentioned here.  An explanation of each area of this page is below.

In addition to the latest BART system updates, a history of the cost overruns of all BART projects will be mentioned here.  This gives you an idea on potential increases in your taxes that may be needed to ensure the proposed San Jose BART extension becomes a reality. 



BART to San Jose

As part of a Santa Clara County voter-approved sales tax measure in 2000, the proposed BART to San Jose extension will run from the Warm Springs section of Fremont, passing thru Milpitas, North San Jose, and downtown San Jose.  Its terminus will be at the current Santa Clara Caltrain station, where it will connect with a proposed people mover to Mineta San Jose International Airport.

[icon]Silicon Valley BART - chronicling the progress of bringing BART to San Jose

[icon]VTA held public scoping meetings on the proposed San Jose BART extension throughout August 2006 - and the rest of the story behind what VTA is NOT telling you about BART to San Jose so far. 
BONUS: Independent analysis of the slide show VTA gives to the public during the scoping meetings.  (3.58 MB PDF - 44 pages total) 

[icon]Notes from VTA's public scoping meetings in August 2006 for the proposed San Jose BART extension 

[icon]From 2006: A letter from Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino announcing the results of a sales tax poll in January 2006 - and response from SCVTARU Founder Eugene Bradley

[icon]VTA's Failed 1/4-cent Sales Tax Proposal (Adobe Acrobat PDF file) from February 2006, and our talking points on the proposal.

[icon]Gilroy Dispatch 11/23/2005 - BART to San Jose Gets $6.5 million boost from the federal government (independent analysis of this news item)

[icon]Mountain View Voice 9/23/2005: VTA optimistic on BART to San Jose - predicts 110,000 riders (independent analysis of the ridership figures)

[icon]San Francisco Chronicle 2/9/2005 : BART To San Jose Suffers Setbacks (mentions how the extension will cost $6.2 billion of your tax dollars when complete)

[icon]Federal Transportation Administration analysis of BART to San Jose from November 2004 (101K Microsoft Word document - will be converted to HTML shortly)

[icon]From Bay Crossings: VTA's Monomaniacal Manifest Destiny - BART to San Jose

[icon]An August 2002 staff memo on the Valley Transportation Authority pledging to BART to use money to run buses and light rail ("TDA Funding") as collateral for operating costs on the proposed BART to San Jose extension

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BART to Warm Springs

Part of an Alameda County voter-approved sales tax measure in 2000 included extending BART from the current Fremont terminus to the Warm Springs area of the city.  Efforts to bring BART to San Jose depends on this extension being completed.

[icon]San Jose Mercury News 11/2/2006: BART to Warm Springs Gets Green Light (from the Federal Government)

[icon]Oakland Tribune via San Bruno BART site 8/17/2005: 10 Popular Road, BART Plans Stall

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BART to SFO/Millbrae

News on the currently operating BART extension to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Millbrae will be mentioned here.  Events on this extension will ultimately dictacte the success - or failure - of any BART extension into Santa Clara County.

[icon]San Mateo Daily Journal 5/27/2006 letter from 1995 San Mateo Grand Jury member Tom Dempsey: Peninsula Transit Renegotiation Is a Must - a followup to Mr. Dempesy's May 2005 commentary to the same paper that vindicated concerns that Grand Jury had on the San Francisco Airport BART extension. 

[icon]Excerpts from the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the BART SFO/Millbrae Extension from June 1996 (with ridership projection tables)

[icon]From BayRail Alliance: Ridership analysis on the BART extension to Millbrae and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) 

[icon]San Francisco Chronicle 5/17/2006 from Matier and Ross: SamTrans a shrinking partner in cash-draining BART Peninsula line 

[icon]March 2006 SamTrans Ridership Figures for SamTrans buses, Caltrain, and the BART extension to Millbrae/SFO (published May 10, 2006 - Adobe Acrobat PDF document)

[icon]San Mateo Daily Journal 10/26/2005: More building around revamped Millbrae BART/Caltrain station

[icon]San Francisco Chronicle 6/30/2005: BART's Peninsula Line Falls Short of Hopes 

[icon]From February 2002: a history of missed deadlines and broken promises for the opening of the BART extension into San Francisco International Airport

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 BART's History of Cost Overruns...and More 

Every BART project ever constructed - from the initial line from MacArthur to Fremont in 1972 to the recently-opened extension to San Francisco Airport - has been at least 100% over its original projected budget.  The following stories details why these cost overruns happen, who truly benefits from them - and who loses.

[icon]Bay Crossings 8/7/2004: BIG Fat Lies (why big transportation projects like BART extensions always cost more than promised) 

[icon]BART, GM, and Bechtel: Protecting Property Values In the San Francisco Financial District (from the Urban Habitat Project) 

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