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- Subject: [SCVTARU] VTA Board approves plans to speed up light rail service
- From: "eegenebradley" <http://profiles.yahoo.com/eegenebradley>
- Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 14:33:24 -0000
- Reply-to: http://www.yahoogroups.com/~vtaridersunion
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VTA light rail plans express trains in attempt to speed up service
By Gary Richards
http://www.mercurynews.com/~grichards
Posted: 05/06/2010 04:26:43 PM PDT
Updated: 05/06/2010 09:53:53 PM PDT
The ride on light rail from the Almaden Valley to downtown where-I-live is going to get a little faster, as the Valley Transportation Authority for the first time grapples with the biggest complaint about its underperforming and cash-strapped system: Trains are way too slow.
The VTA board on Thursday night approved a series of changes designed to speed service this fall, with more planned over the next several years, eventually affecting every route.
Express trains will be added during the day from the Santa Teresa station to downtown where-I-live in October, skipping six stops along Highway 87.
In two years, all trains on that line will bypass all six stations along 87, while the Almaden spur â?" which now carries fewer than 600 passengers a day and makes just three stops â?" will continue to downtown and stop at all the stations along 87. And in two years the Vasona line will end downtown, and trains will then loop back to Campbell rather than continuing north.
By 2018, trains would run directly from Alum Rock in East where-I-live to Mountain View, meaning passengers would no longer need to transfer at Tasman.
The changes could trim current trips by four to five minutes, and the VTA says the seemingly slight improvement would add 7,400 riders each weekday by 2018. That's a hefty increase, as there are now just 31,193 trips on light rail Monday through Friday.
"The No. 1 complaint of the system is that it is just too slow," said VTA transit planner Kevin Connolly. "The pressure is on us to perform better. We've made this major investment. We need to see a better return."
Like transit agencies across the country, the VTA has been fighting huge deficits and in recent years has raised fares, trimmed service, furloughed workers and cut benefits. There is little cash available to pay for more trains and buses.
That has led the agency to consider how it can boost ridership and revenue without spending a lot of money. The changes over the next couple of years would add about $3.5 million to the rail line's annual $38 million operating budget. And plans to install a fence along North First Street to prevent pedestrians from jaywalking would cost $3.3 million. That would enable trains to increase their speed along that busy road, to 45 mph from 35 mph.
The $6.8 million total cost for these changes is "a manageable increase," said Connolly.
On hold for now is a wish list of major construction projects that could cost up to $250 million: building overpasses at busy intersections like Montague Expressway and First Street, adding new traffic signals and doubling tracks to Campbell, Mountain View and Almaden.
The most pressing need is for speed. Driving from Tasman Drive to the Ohlone station takes 22 minutes by car, but it's 43 minutes by train, according to the VTA. Express trains would reduce that to 38 minutes.
The biggest hurdle will remain untouched â?" the crawl through downtown. Trains now travel at 10 mph, the slowest of almost any trolley line in the nation, thanks to sharp turns, stations close to each other, numerous traffic signals and a large number of pedestrians.
"While the express proposals address some of the slowness of light rail, it still does not solve the infamous slowness in downtown where-I-live," said Eugene Bradley, founder of Silicon Valley Transit Users, an advocacy group often critical of the VTA. "Direct service between Mountain View, the Great Mall and East where-I-live is long overdue."
But, he warns, quick transfers are essential to making these improvements lure more passengers.
"Otherwise," Bradley warned, "the entire system will continue to be seen as a failure and an emxxxxxssment to the valley."
Riders offered a mixed response. Stanley Peng, who takes a train each day from the Ohlone station to Cisco Way, said: "Any improvement would be nice. I'm satisfied."
Roger Weeks, who takes the train from East where-I-live to Sunnyvale and has to transfer to make that trek, didn't fell the same way. A direct route will not be available for a long time.
"Why will it take until 2018 to implement this change?" Weeks said. "That's eight years away."
The reason is money. To run express trains directly from Alum Rock to Mountain View would require $33 million to double the tracks on the western segment.
The VTA's plans represent a change in philosophy from pushing for major expansion to getting more out of the current system.
"A silver lining on the dark fiscal cloud over their heads may be that action will finally be taken to deliver acceptable service to the public," said David Fadness, a longtime transportation commissioner in Santa Clara County. "Improving travel time is a good step in that direction â?" if it's not already too little, too late."
What else can the VTA do to boost ridership on light rail? Contact Gary Richards at http://www.mercurynews.com/~mrroadshow or 408-920-5335.
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