VTA Connections

Labor Day Message

Dear Friends of VTA:

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, has become symbolic of the end of summer; a day to relax and enjoy with family and friends before the kids head back to school.  When Congress designated this day as a federal holiday in 1894, it was originally intended to be an annual national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.  With Labor Day recently celebrated, I would like to take a minute to acknowledge the work of VTA staff.  Our employees have continued to provide outstanding service to Santa Clara County residents throughout this very challenging year, and I am very proud of their accomplishments.

Last year, after implementing a comprehensive redesign for our entire bus system, we enjoyed double-digit ridership gains.  The slow down in the economy and rising unemployment has reversed some of that increase, nevertheless, we saw a 4.2% increase in bus ridership this year over the prior fiscal year.  Light rail also saw an increase over last year, with ridership 3.9% higher than the prior year.  VTA’s daily service reliability is at 99.72%, higher than last year’s impressive performance and exceeding the board adopted goal of 99.3%.   In FY2009, bus miles driven between major mechanical/schedule losses improved by 10.9% compared to last year, and light rail on-time performance was 90.1%, up 3.1% compared to last year.

VTA also continues to advance our capital program.  Recently, we completed the public review of environmental documents for the BART project, and with submittal of nearly 50 separate documents, we expect to be re-entering the Federal New Starts program at the end of the month.  Outreach and scoping meetings for the Capitol Expressway project will occur in coming weeks to prepare the community for construction of pedestrian improvements to pave the way for the planned BRT and future Eastridge light rail connection.

VTA staff needs to be particularly acknowledged for the way they have worked in partnership to help address our budget deficit.  Recently, ATU membership ratified a contract amendment that defers wage increases for two years and makes other concessions.  Earlier this year, VTA executive managers, SEIU, TAE, and AFSCME staff agreed to a two-year wage freeze and 12 days of unpaid furloughs.  These concessions generated $22 million in savings. Department operating budgets have been cut by 15% or more.  Position vacancies from retirements and other employee movement are “frozen” and will remain unfilled except in the most critical functions.   Additional efforts to raise revenues have been explored, including increased efforts to sell advertisements on VTA vehicles, and use of Federal stimulus funds to support operation costs.  Over the years, VTA has maintained a prudent reserve, and these funds will be utilized as well.  All of these steps have reduced the budget deficit.  Unfortunately, revenues continue to fall and the savings generated will not be sufficient to avoid service reductions in January, and a fare increase in October.  I encourage you to go to http://www.vta.org/servicereductions/ to see the latest information on VTA’s service reduction plans. 

With the rapidly changing economic landscape, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the daily reports of doom and gloom.  It is important to periodically pause and assess how we are doing in terms of reaching our long-term objectives and not be thrown by short-term setbacks.  We continue to look for innovative ways to deliver on our Agency’s vision.  However, we are also mindful that despite the progress that VTA has made in dealing with the current budget deficit, much work lies ahead as the revenue challenges throughout the Country and the State persist.  We appreciate your continued interest and support for VTA, and commit to keep you informed as further developments occur.

Michael T. Burns
General Manager

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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.