Eugene Bradley
Founder, Santa Clara VTA Riders Union
/eeb
Enclosures
cc: Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation
| Santa Clara VTA | Riders Union |
August 15, 2003 U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Jenna Dorn, Administrator 400 7th St. SW, Room 9328 Washington, DC 20590 RE: Inclusion Of an Extension Of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to San Jose, CA As Part Of TEA-21 Reauthorization Dear Administrator Dorn: I am the founder of the Santa Clara VTA Riders Union. Our group is a nonpartisan, grassroots-based mass transit advocacy and watchdog group based in Sunnyvale, CA. It has come to my attention that Ron Gonzales (Mayor of San Jose, CA) and Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group (SVMG), have talked to you and your staff regarding $494 million to $894 million in federal funding for the BART extension into San Jose, CA as part of the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). It has also come to my attention that the BART extension to San Jose has cost overruns that well exceed the $3.8 billion Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Guardino claimed the project would cost local taxpayers, and thus require much more subsidies than either gentleman informed you or local voters about. Specifically, the need to find an additional $48 million in operating subsidies for the BART extension that uses funding to run the county's buses and light rail as collateral should such external funding for the capital project remain unidentified. This and other examples of cost overruns with the San Jose BART extension that neither gentleman informed you nor local voters about are included in the report, "Transportation Injustice," included with this letter. This report was prepared by our sister organization, the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC) based on Oakland, CA. Questions regarding "Transportation Injustice" are to be directed to Stuart Cohen, Executive Director of TALC, at (510)740-3150. After the cost overruns are added up, the real cost of the San Jose BART extension is over $6 billion. Since voters in Santa Clara County, CA approved Measure A (which featured the San Jose BART extension) in November 2000, the current economic recession has caused the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) to reduce transit service by over 15%. Currently, VTA faces up to a 21% additional reduction in transit service in January 2004 if additional money is not found to run the county's buses and light rail. In addition, the VTA has approved its second fare increase in as many years, to take effect August 1, which will raise the adult base fare to $1.50 from $1.10 in November 2000 - an increase of 36%. While the measure includes $1.1 billion in operating expenses for all the projects listed (included in this letter), there is not enough funding to operate all of the projects due to the economic recession. Due to the impact of the recession and skyrocketing costs of the San Jose BART extension, VTA currently faces a $50 million deficit this fiscal year, and faces a $6 billion shortfall over the next 20 to 25 years. It should be obvious to you that nondisclosure of cost overruns of a rail extension, nor the use of bus and light rail operations funding as collateral for such an extension, is not what voters in Santa Clara County, CA approved nearly three years ago. Attempts by this and other local groups to address VTA and other local officials about the San Jose BART extension's cost overruns have only been met with silence. In the name of fiscal responsibility and accountability, I request this committee withdraw the San Jose BART extension from inclusion into TEA-21 reauthorization, until VTA, Mayor Gonzales, and Mr. Guardino publicly disclose all cost overruns with the San Jose BART extension and resolve them in a reasonable manner. In addition, I request that the FTA fully evaluate the impacts of the BART extension to San Jose on local bus and light rail service before the project is made part of TEA-21 reauthorization. Your written response to this letter and the TALC report is appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact me at (408)830-9284 should you or your staff require more information on this issue. Sincerely,
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