City Councilman John McAlister, Cupertino council member Rod Sinks, and other elected officials in the county are voices of reason in the ongoing debate over adding toll-based express lanes on local freeways at the expense of urgently needed mass transit systems.
Express lanes, which allow drivers in single-occupancy vehicles to zip into the far left lane or lanes by paying a toll, have been installed on three Bay Area roadways in recent years, including a 4-mile stretch of Highway 237. The lanes can be used toll-free by vehicles that qualify for carpool lanes, which is only reasonable given that the new express lanes replaced carpool lanes designated for multiple-occupancy vehicles, buses and certain low-emission vehicles.
The Valley Transportation Authority is now eager to convert carpool lanes on Highway 85 to express lanes, noting that data collected during the Highway 237 trial period for its lanes show that express lanes provide overall traffic-congestion relief as well as a faster ride for those forking over the money for the privilege of using them. The VTA and other Bay Area transportation agencies aim to create a 500-plus-mile network of these lanes throughout the region. Although express lanes are criticized by many as an unfair giveaway of taxpayer-funded highway lanes to the wealthy and as another blow to the ideal of social equality, the intent to install them regionally appears to be unstoppable.
But what McAlister and like-minded public officials might be able to stop, with enough public support, is VTA’s disturbing push for multiple express lanes in each direction on Highway 85. The plan is disturbing because it would require not only the conversion of the two existing carpool lanes — one in each direction — but also the use of the 46-foot-wide median that for years has been designated for mass transit use. And that doesn’t sit well with many who are frustrated with, as Sinks describes it, the “transit desert” that is Santa Clara County.
Many motorists today, particularly commuters, would gladly support any measure that would provide quick relief from the area’s increasingly punishing roadway congestion and gridlock. But solving the county’s overburdened-highway problems requires long-term vision as well as band-aid measures, and public transit — whether light rail, BART, express buses, or a mix of those strategies — is a critical component of a long-term solution.
If the Highway 85 median were gobbled up by new traffic lanes — which in short order would reach capacity as the area continues to expand and the lack of public transit keeps people in their cars — how feasible would construction of an effective public transit system be? Finding land for mass transit projects is not an easy feat in this largely developed county, and trying to acquire right-of-way for them would be costly and time-consuming. The designation decades ago of the highway median for public transit use is an example of regional transit planners’ big-picture, long-term thinking, and the VTA’s push to grab this land for a short-term solution to traffic congestion lacks true vision.
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