VTA forging ahead on BART-to-SJ VTA forging ahead on BART-to-SJ (December 17, 2004)

Tax decision put off until March

By Jon Wiener

Following scant debate from board members, the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) last week approved a $4 billion extension to bring BART to downtown San Jose. Opponents have said that funding the project could gut bus and light rail service in Mountain View.

Though a massive funding shortfall will derail the project without new revenue sources, the board voted 11-1 to certify the project's environmental impact report, declaring that the project's impacts on the community along the proposed 16.3-mile route are outweighed by the promise of nearly 40,000 new transit riders.

Los Altos Mayor David Casas, a board representative for Mountain View's group of cities, dissented, establishing himself as a leading critic of the controversial plan.

"The benefits as listed are dubious at best," Casas told the VTA staff. He questioned VTA's ridership projections and an assertion by the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce that the public still supports the BART project.

Originally approved by voters in 2000 as part of Measure A, the BART extension has become a lightning rod for criticism as the sales tax revenue that was supposed to pay for it has plummeted. The VTA board is considering placing a half-cent sales tax on the November 2006 ballot to help close the gap, but voted last week to delay that decision until March.

Last week, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors joined a growing list of agencies asking for VTA to consider building the extension in stages, an approach they say could save billions of dollars.

Business representatives voiced their support for the project during the public comment period, while transit activists, including Mountain View City Council member Greg Perry, criticized the board for moving ahead with a project it doesn't have the money to build while ignoring more efficient alternatives.

"At some point you're going to have to face that you can't afford this project. You're $2 billion short," said Perry.

VTA staff has said that, even without the BART project, the agency needs the new tax to stave off service reductions of 20 to 25 percent.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.