VTA Connections

BART to San Jose Moving Forward

Dear Friends of VTA:

As locally-elected officials currently serving as Chair and Vice-Chair for the VTA Board, we recognize our responsibility to the citizens of the county to deliver the best possible transportation system. The current financial crisis demands that we do so in a fiscally prudent manner, which will require difficult choices.

Recent news accounts have rushed to the oversimplified conclusion that the project to extend BART to Santa Clara County is being delayed. Over the next two years, VTA’s schedule of work on the BART project moves forward using existing funds. We remain focused on securing federal environmental approval for the project (draft EIS available at www.vta.org) and on readying the project so that it can compete for federal funds. Both of these approvals are required for the 2008 Measure B to take effect, and are also necessary before any BART construction work can begin. In addition, VTA will not proceed with BART construction without firm commitments that the bus and light rail operations can be funded without degrading existing public transportation services.

The VTA Board is committed to fulfilling the direction of Santa Clara County voters, who have twice voted by a super-majority to support sales tax increases to bring BART to our county. As stewards of public funds, VTA takes its fiduciary responsibilities very seriously. The international fiscal crisis does not signal the end of efforts to improve our transit system; it simply reinforces the need to move forward in a flexible and fiscally prudent manner. VTA has historically operated in this manner, and we will certainly follow the same approach in the case of the BART extension and all other future projects.

The most recent cost estimate for the BART project is $6.05 billion in current dollars. There is no plan to stop the line at Berryessa. We are committed to build BART to San Jose and Santa Clara. The current economic climate requires that the project be built in phases, meaning work will be progressing on the entire line while individually completed sections will be opened when ready. It is anticipated that the first phase of the project, bringing BART to Warm Springs, will be open for service by 2016.

Although the economic downturn has reduced revenues, other developments hold promise for allowing the line to be built more quickly and at a lower cost. Construction costs have dropped as competition has increased for construction contracts. The California Legislature recently expanded options for the use of design-build contracting and private-public partnerships, which could benefit transit projects countywide. For this reason, it is not possible to definitively state the BART extension’s final completion date or cost; any reports to the contrary are pure speculation.

We face unprecedented economic challenges, affecting virtually every aspect of the public and private sectors. Nevertheless, with public transit systems experiencing record-setting ridership and with the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, it is crucial that we maintain our investment in transit. Public transit is the environmentally responsible option. Great advancements are often borne out of adversity. While the volatility of our economy requires flexibility and caution in the short-term, VTA’s long-term commitment to build a BART extension into downtown San Jose and to Santa Clara is stronger than ever.

Dolly Sandoval
VTA Board Chair

Sam Liccardo
VTA Board Vice-Chair

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About VTA
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations; congestion management; specific highway improvement projects; and countywide transportation planning. As such, VTA is both an accessible transit provider and multi-modal transportation planning organization involved with transit, highways and roadways, bikeways and pedestrian facilities.