The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s has unveiled its first major service overhaul in nine years calling for scaling back or ending bus service on some lightly traveled lines, adding to heavily traveled routes and possibly restructuring fares.
The proposal debated by the VTA board after a nearly five-hour hearing Thursday night will be shopped for comment in a series of nine public hearings starting Wednesday in San Jose. By April, VTA intends to vote on changes that would impact nearly all of its 70 bus lines, plus 42 miles of light rail.
Among the proposed changes:
- Bus routes 120, 140, 180 and 181 will be cut back to avoid duplication as Bay Area Rapid Transit service to north San Jose comes online, with the Milpitas and Berryessa Station planned to open late this year.
- Service will be reduced or discontinued along lightly traveled routes including from Eastridge to the the Civic Center.
- Buses will travel more frequently along heavily used routes including from Tully Road through the east side and throughout downtown.
- Fares may be increased for some tickets for the first time in eight years. Changes would be made during the VTA’s budget process which concludes this summer.
- Bus riders may be able to transfer to another bus or light rail without having to buy a second ticket, saving $2. Transfers are not currently allowed without buying a second fare.
- Introduction of two new Rapid services: Rapid 523, an upgrade to today’s 323, and would serve Berryessa BART, downtown San Jose, Stevens Creek, De Anza College, Sunnyvale downtown, and Lockheed Martin. Rapid 500 would replace today’s DASH, providing a rapid connection between Berryessa BART, downtown San Jose, and Diridon Station. Buses would be scheduled to meet BART trains.
- A new light-rail line, directly connecting Alum Rock and Mountain View, including the Milpitas BART station, running every 15 minutes all day.
- And a new route 20 directly connecting Milpitas BART with job centers in north San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Mountain View.
“We’re changing almost every single route,” said Adam Burger, the VTA’s project manager. “These are meaningful changes.”
The proposed changes drew some early praise.
“It’s about time VTA considers free transfers as part of their fare policy proposal,” said Eugene Bradley, founder of the Silicon Valley Transit Users. “VTA is one of the few transit agencies in the nation that punishes riders for transferring between buses or light rail.”
Transit use has steadily fallen in Santa Clara County and across the country despite a more robust economy and awful traffic jams. Ride-hailing programs such as Uber and Lyft are attracting more riders from transit.
The idea behind VTA’s proposed changes is to operate more service running more frequently where the most riders are, while scaling back or discontinuing trips to outlying locations with the 40-foot buses carrying as few as half-dozen people.
VTA’s goal is to boost ridership 10 percent to 15 percent, as has happened in sprawling Houston in the past two years where a similar plan was put into effect.
“That’s reasonable,” Burger said.
Where currently 70 percent of service is geared to the most popular lines, that ratio will increase to 85 percent.
There would be expanded hours of service, particularly late night, to East San Jose and through downtown. One example is Route 73, which currently ends at 9:30pm but would end at midnight under the plan.
Trolley lines will run every 15 minutes with a new line from Alum Rock to Mountain View. The number of express trains running through the median of Highway 87 will increase. The lines will be color coded — orange, yellow, blue, green and purple — making it easier for riders to figure out where they are headed.
The report stated that riders expressed frustration with VTA’s limited transit options on weekends “particularly those residents who work in the service and retail sectors.”
And it said a big beef is how long trips take.
The draft plan provides 9 percent more service on Saturday and 7 percent more on Sunday.
Alviso currently has no weekend service, but under the draft plan would have service on both Saturdays and Sundays. And on Route 73 buses that now stop at 930 p.m. would run until midnight.
If your bus is on the chopping block, more transfers will be needed, and many route numbers will change.
The bus changes are not expected to add costs, with the cuts off setting new service. But the rail portion is projected to increase operating costs by approximately $8 million a year.
“This is a transformative project,” said VTA board chair Jeannie Bruins. “If we want to make change, we need to do things differently.”
For a list of scheduled public meetings, go to nextnetwork.vta.org/meetings
