Other transit solutions give more bang for bucks, coalition says

January 14, 2000

By GARY RICHARDS
Mercury News Staff Writer

Plans to run BART to San Jose should be derailed and and BART extensions to other Bay Area cities such as LIvermore should be dropped from consideration, concludes a report crafted by a coalition representing 60 environmental, transit and community groups.

The Bay Area Transportation and Land Use Coalition wants billions of dollars redirected from highways and costy programs such as Bay Area Rapid Transit to improve other commuter trains and bus service throughout the region. In a 120-page report released Thursday, the group also cautions against widening Highway 101 between Morgan Hill and San Jose, saying it would make traffic worse in the San Jose area.

But the report saves its harshest words for BART, saying a $4 billion extension to San Jose is too costly and would not carry as many riders as Caltrain-style service.

"For less than half that money, you can upgrade Caltrain to a world-class system with trains running every five to seven minutes and upgrade more than 300 miles of track," said Stu Cohen, author of the report, "At some point, we have to get off this BART-to-San Jose track."

The study runs counter to a growing sentiment to extend BART to Silicon Valley. Traffic on Interstate 680 and I-880 ranks with the worst in the region, and regional leaders and commuters see BART as a way to get people out of their cars on those freeways.

A $450,000 BART extension feasibihty study has been approved.

Even supporters admit BART is expensive, but they contend there's a reason for the high cost.

"The advantage to BART is that it gives you everything all at once in one system," said Jim Lawson, former chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. "Separate right of ways, you don't worry about getting tickets to a different train, it's electrified and there's another train every few minutes. That's why there is a lot of public support for it."

Adds BART President Dan Richard: "It all comes down to bang for the buck and what level of service are you going to get. BART can carty a lot of people very fast without cutting off traffic, in all these cities. BART may not turn out to be the answer for San Jose, but you have to look at it."

The transportation group also wants more bus service, especially express buses from residential areas in the East Bay to Silicon Valley. To make this work, the group says, carpool lanes need to be linked between freeways.

And, in areas where there's no room to widen a freeway, a lane for solo drivers should be restriped and given to carpoolers -- on Highway 101 between San Carlos and the San Francisco Airport, and on Interstate 580.

"It's ridiculous that a shuttle van nine people to the San Francisco Airport should be going at the same pace as solo drivers" Cohen said. "Taking the carpool lane to the airport would be brilliant."

The report praises Santa Clara County transit leaders, saying the addition of high density housing on the Tasman light rail extension is a strategy needed throughout the region.

"The VTA is unique in the Bay Area," Cohen said. "They not only control transportation projects, but they also control the rail line and the bus system. They care more about their transit than do a lot of counties."

But, the VTA plan to widen Highway 101 to eight lanes between South San Jose and Morgan Hill came under criticism. The two extra lanes each way would propel 4,000 more cars north in the morning, adding to bottlenecks that already exist between Tully Road and Highway 87.

"San Jose drivers are the ones who are going to suffer from the widening," Cohen said.

The group will present its report to all Bay Area counties ffia may be drafting new transportation plans.