Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

Encyclopedia : S : SA : SAN : Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

---

a major revision or rewrite and needs further review. [Contributing FAQ>You can help!]

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is a special-purpose district responsible for public transit services, congestion management, specific highway improvement projects, and countywide transportation planning for Santa Clara County, California, United States.

History

In 1969, Santa Clara County had three private bus companies, all of which were in serious financial trouble: Peninsula Transit, San Jose City Lines, and Peerless Stages.Charles S. McCaleb, Rails, Roads & Runways: The 20-Year Saga of Santa Clara County's Transportation Agency, (San Jose: Santa Clara County Transportation Agency, 1994), 12. The California Legislature passed a Santa Clara County Transit District Act in 1969.McCaleb, 12. However, the Act did not supply any funding for the new district, and county voters were reluctant to tax themselves to fund a public bus system. The formation of the Santa Clara County Transit District was rejected in 1969 and 1970 before it was finally approved by county voters on June 6, 1972.McCaleb, 12. The SCCTD took over the operations of the three old bus companies on January 1, 1973.McCaleb, 12.

On September 26, 1974, the county Board of Supervisors dissolved the Public Works Department.McCaleb, 16. Non-transit operations went into a new General Services Agency, while transit operations were placed into a new Santa Clara County Transportation Agency.McCaleb, 16.

The biggest problem facing SCCTD in its early years was to replace the aging bus fleet it inherited from its predecessors. At first the district bought propane-fueled Twin Coaches from Gillig, but switched to an all-diesel fleet when six buses went up in flames between December 1977 and April 1978.McCaleb, 26. At the time, critics referred to the buses as "rolling propane bombs."McCaleb, 26.

On January 1, 1995, the SCCTA merged with the county Congestion Management Agency to become the SCVTA. For convenience, the acronym was later shortened to VTA.

In 1996, voters approved a half cent sales tax, Measure B, and a companion list of projects recommended to be funded with Measure B, called (1996) Measure A. The two measures were designed to circumvent the rule in the California State Constitution that requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass any special purpose sales tax, but only a majority vote to pass a general sales tax. The measure was challenged, but in 1998, the California Supreme Court ruled that the two measure system was valid. [link] The tax was to be collected for ten years.

In 2000, voters approved an extension of the sales tax to fund an extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit to Santa Clara. 2000 Measure A also funded light rail extensions, highway construction, and bus service expansion, as well as a people mover to San Jose International Airport. The sales tax will be extended to 2036. The measure was criticized by residents in the western and southern portions of the county, who stated that not enough benefit was being provided to those areas. Nevertheless, due to growing congestion as a result of the dot-com boom, the measure passed overwhelmingly, with 70% of the vote.

However, due to the dot-com bust, revenues failed to materialize and VTA was forced to cut service and increase fares. VTA embarked on a series of fare hikes starting in 1998 and culminating in 2005. [link] Base fares have increased 59%, monthly passes by 86%, and day passes by 139% over that time. VTA's farebox recovery is approximately 12%, which is far below the national average. Attempts to increase VTA's low farebox recovery has resulted in fare increases and service cuts, which continue to reduce ridership and paradoxically do not result in major improvement in farebox recovery. Thus, it is often said that VTA is in a "death spiral" of high fares and poor service. [link] In addition, VTA publicly contemplated filing bankruptcy in 2003 [link] as a result of expenses that exceeded revenues.

VTA received another blow to its plans to extend BART when the Federal Transit Administration issued a "Not Recommended" rating in January 2004. [link] The FTA was concerned about the ability for VTA to raise matching funds for construction, and of its ability to operate BART and other bus services at the same time. Nevertheless, VTA continued to design BART and prepare the required Environmental Impact Statement.

In 2006, VTA and county social service agencies jointly proposed an additional half cent sales tax increase, 2006 Measure A, which would provide some money for unspecified transportation projects. The tax increase would have meant that Santa Clara County would have the highest sales tax in the state. Recent California Supreme Court decisions had prevented the VTA from using the same technique as in 1996, so the amount of money going to each program was not stated. However, the measure was portrayed in the public as the last means of saving the BART extension. The measure failed the voters by a margin of 58% opposed and 42% in favor. [link] VTA's plans still include the BART extension, but the agency is still short $3 billion for its overall transportation plan. [link] VTA members are exploring a quarter cent special sales tax to cover the deficit, permit construction of the promised projects, and avoid bankruptcy. [link]

Governance

The Santa Clara VTA special district is governed by a 12-member board of directors comprised of:

• 2 Santa Clara County supervisors
• 5 City of San Jose council members
• 5 council members selected from the other 14 cities in the county

In June 2004, the Santa Clara County Grand Jury criticized the governance strucutre by calling it "too large, too political, too dependent on staff, too inexperienced in some cases, and too removed from the financial and operational performance of VTA." Since VTA board members are required to be elected officials, they must juggle their other duties in addition to VTA. The Grand Jury recommended that the VTA board be shrunk to 5 to 7 members, with members either appointed solely for transportation issues or directly elected by the voters. [link]

VTA's current General Manager is Michael Burns, previously the General Manager of San Francisco Muni.

Congestion management

VTA also serves as the Congestion Management Agency for Santa Clara County. In this role VTA makes decisions on what local projects can utilize federal and state funding, and manage sales tax revenue that is specified for VTA usages, such as 1987 Measure A and 2000 Measure A sales tax measures.

Transit services

VTA operates three light rail lines, a number of bus lines, and paratransit service. VTA is a member agency of Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board that manages Caltrain communter rail, providing one-third of annual operating funds and all the funding for specific improvement projects within Santa Clara County. VTA is also a member agency of Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority that manages Capitol Corridor intercity rail service.

Light rail

The VTA light rail system consists of 42 miles of track, currently consisting of two main lines and a spur line. There are currently 62 light rail stations in operation on the three lines. The light rail system was opened in 1987 and has gradually expanded since then.

Runs from the Alum Rock station in East San Jose (or Alum Rock) to Santa Teresa station in the Santa Teresa neighborhood of San Jose, via Milpitas and downtown San Jose. There are 36 stops on this line. In South San Jose, the line operates in the median of California State Route 87 and 85.

Runs from Downtown Mountain View station in Mountain View through Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, North San Jose along North First Street, Downtown San Jose, and terminates at the Winchester station in western Campbell. It has 32 stops, 14 of which are shared with the Alum Rock-Santa Teresa Line.

There is a 3-stop spur from the Ohlone/Chyoweth station to Almaden station at the Almaden Expressway in the Almaden Valley. The Ohlone/Chynoweth station provides connection to the Alum Rock-Santa Teresa Line. It receives little traffic, even though there is an intermediate stop at the Oakridge Shopping Mall.

Light rail vehicles

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: