Published Friday, November 2, 2001, in the San Jose Business Journal

Chugging right along

By Timothy Roberts

BART is coming down to the wire. Its officials and the Valley
Transportation Authority have until Nov. 19 to work out their
differences over funding, but at last check they were miles from the
station.

Last November voters in Santa Clara County approved a ballot
initiative that will extend a half-cent sales tax for 30 years and
raise $6 billion for transportation improvements, including $2
billion to extend BART south from Fremont to San Jose and Santa Clara.

Now, will the bureaucrats live up to the expectations of self-
sacrificing taxpayers?

In hopes of finally coming to an agreement, BART and VTA officials
planned to meet every day from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 (a Saturday) and
again on Nov. 5. The VTA has the issue on its Nov. 9 agenda, while
BART will make its decision Nov. 15.

Negotiations are being conducted behind closed doors, but when BART
General Manager Tom Margro and VTA board Chairman Manuel Valerio
attended the release of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group's
projections of valley growth Sept. 28, some of the differences came
to light.

One is whether Santa Clara County should pay a fee to join BART.
Another is how much the VTA should pay each year in operating costs.
Mr. Valerio says there should be no buy-in cost because his county is
paying so much of the startup costs. He estimates the county should
pay $25 million to $30 million annually to run the system.

Mr. Margro says the other counties in the system want Santa Clara
County to buy into it. He estimates taxpayers here should pay $50
million to $60 million a year in operating costs.

The Nov. 19 deadline is the date by which the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission, which coordinates transportation projects
in the Bay Area, says it must receive an operating plan for the BART
extension.

Unless the locals can work out their differences, the state and the
Feds are unlikely to kick in their share of the funding.

U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, a member of the House
Transportation Committee, says he wants everyone on the same track
before he asks his House colleagues for $494 million to be added to
the $760 million the state has pledged and the $2 billion that will
come from county taxpayers. Even Norman Mineta, former San Jose mayor
and Congressman and now U.S. Secretary of Transportation, says he's
reluctant to push for the funding unless local officials are unified
behind it.

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, who campaigned hard for BART last year,
has been joining the discussions weekly.

Jim Webb, policy adivser to the mayor, says the biggest sticking
point now is the maintenance cost, although he adds that the buy-in
issue hasn't been laid to rest completely. Nevertheless, Mr. Webb,
who joins the mayor in the discussions, says he is optimistic about
the outcome.

"It gets closer every time they sit down," he says. "But we still
have a lot of ground to cover. These are intense and complex
negotations."