| |
Local & State News
Published Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News
Transit agency agrees to help fund BART in S.J.
BY GARY RICHARDS
Mercury News
The Valley Transportation Authority has agreed to pay $48 million a
year to cover the costs of running BART to downtown San Jose, opening
the door to hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid for the
21-mile extension.
The agreement with BART came late Tuesday after six days of talks and
removes a major stumbling block to bringing the popular commuter train
to Silicon Valley.
The funds could come from several sources -- a new countywide sales
tax, new gas tax funds, an increase in fares, a surcharge on tickets
sold in Santa Clara County or development fees at new stations, to
name a few possibilities.
But -- and this is what BART demanded -- if those options do not
materialize or raise enough cash, the VTA will be required to use
money from its Transportation Development Account, an existing
quarter-cent sales tax that generates about $100 million a year for
the transit agency's general fund. A source of funds must be
determined by 2009.
``Our goal was to protect BART and I think we have,'' said BART board
member Tom Blalock of Fremont. ``This is what we needed to make this
work.''
Santa Clara County voters approved a 30-year tax measure last fall
that, along with state funding, will raise nearly $2.9 billion for the
$3.7 billion extension. Trains would run from Fremont through downtown
San Jose, ending west of San Jose International Airport in Santa
Clara. Service could begin in 2010 to 2012.
But the VTA said it only had enough funds to operate BART and
increased light-rail and bus service through 2014. That was a possible
deal-breaker because BART feared it might end up having to cover
day-to-day operational costs.
``We need an additional stream of revenue with or without BART,'' VTA
General Manager Pete Cipolla said Tuesday. ``But now we have eight
years to deal with those kinds of issues.''
The agreement now goes to the VTA board for approval on Friday, and to
the BART board next Tuesday. Assuming no hitches develop, the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission next month is expected to rank
the extension on its top list of projects, opening the door for
federal aid.
The VTA plans to seek $834 million in federal money to complete
construction. To get on a long list of projects seeking money from
Washington, it first needed an agreement that had the backing of the
region.
This deal differs from the one worked out with San Mateo County to
extend BART to San Francisco International. In that agreement, San
Mateo County used $250 million from a county sales tax to help pay for
BART, plus gave BART $100 million in state aid that was used to help
build extensions in the East Bay.
In addition, San Mateo County promised to cover operational and
maintenance costs through a surcharge in tickets and parking fees.
However, ridership to the Colma station has been so great that there
is a surplus.
The VTA estimates it will cost $23 million a year to run trains within
Santa Clara County after fares are calculated in. The extra $25
million from the VTA will help pay for an expanded operations center
for BART plus new cars and station improvements along the East Bay.
Optimistic predictions say the line to Silicon Valley will attract
nearly 87,000 riders a day by 2025, with fares covering 64 percent of
day-to-day costs. Tracks would run parallel to Interstate 680 before
tunneling through downtown under either Santa Clara or San Fernando
streets.
BART would connect with light rail in Milpitas and with Caltrain and
light rail at the Diridon Station across from the Compaq Center at San
Jose. A people-mover would carry passengers from the Santa Clara
station into the airport.
_________________________________________________________________
Contact Gary Richards at [63]mrroadshow@sjmercury.com or (408)
920-5335.
|
| :