One week after Measure B’s passage, more bus service reductions in Santa Clara County are being discussed. At a workshop today in San Jose, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will propose to staff “an “85/15 balance between ridership-purposed and coverage-purposed services.” What this could potentially mean:
If VTA pursues a more ridership-purposed transit network, routes that would be leading candidates to be decreased or discontinued are coverage-purposed routes located in the low density areas of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, Gilroy and the Almaden Valley, East Hills and Evergreen areas of San Jose. Some of the riders in these areas depend on VTA for transportation and VTA is exploring alternatives to retain their mobility while lowering the per-ride subsidy that VTA currently pays, which generally ranges from double to triple the system-wide average per-ride subsidy.
Where VTA’s “Next Network” workshop will be held:
TIME & DATE: November 18 at 2:00pm
PLACE: VTA Auditorium at VTA’s River Oaks headquarters, 3331 N. First Street, San Jose
GETTING THERE: VTA’s headquarters is across the street from River Oaks light rail station. It is also served bh the 58 bus line.
Special thanks to @CALHSR on Twitter for informing our group of this news item.
.@VTA staff recommend drastic reductions to service network for Santa Clara County (week after sales tax passes)https://t.co/1R7aFFNimh pic.twitter.com/TDQePAKmOG
— "Be Best" for transit = pulse network (@CALHSR) November 17, 2016
More information on VTA’s proposal will be posted this weekend.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users