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Article last updated:
Thursday, November 08, 2001 3:34 AM MST
BART is nearer to fulfilling promise
Transit officials applaud agreement in principle
By Sean HolstegeSTAFF WRITER
Transit officials from two counties on Wednesday described their
accord to stretch BART from Fremont to San Jose as historic even as
critics of the $4 billion project questioned the details.
A tentative agreement between BART and the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority was a key obstacle to a 40-year dream to link
San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.
"This tentative agreement represents a new era in regional transit,"
BART Board President Willie Kennedy said.
Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty said the entire region would
benefit by easing traffic on two of the most congested freeways in the
Bay Area: Interstates 880 and 680 into Silicon Valley. Envisioned to
open in 2010, the Fremont-to-San Jose line is projected to carry
39,000 passengers a day initially and swell to 87,000 by 2025.
"The right thing is being done today," Haggerty said. "Over 40 years
ago, politics killed this deal. I would caution that we move this
train forward and deliver the project that voters wanted."
Voters on both sides of the county line have agreed to tax themselves
for a BART extension. In Alameda County, environmental work is
underway on the first phase of the extension, from Fremont to Warm
Springs.
Wednesday's pact settles differences between the two agencies over how
to pay for the operations and upkeep of a new South Bay BART line.
The VTA's board is expected to ink the deal Friday and the elected
nine-member BART Board is expected to sign on the dotted line Tuesday.
Under the proposed arrangement, VTA would pay BART $48 million a year
for all the new maintenance and operations costs, plus the South Bay's
proportional share of overhead and wear-and-tear to the existing
95-mile BART network.
That raises a wider controversy about whether the Bay Area should be
sinking billions into BART's expensive rail network rather than
investing in more economical transit systems.
A coalition of environmental, transit and social justice groups says
the region's priorities and Wednesday's agreement favor affluent
commuters at the expense of urban blacks, Hispanics and Asians who
tend to ride buses.
If fewer people ride the proposed 20-mile BART extension than
expected, VTA has agreed to put up its transit operating funds as a
guarantee.
"This means that bus and light rail service is on the chopping block,"
said Stuart Cohen, executive director of the Bay Area Transportation
and Land Use Coalition."
It's a blatant disregard for civil rights. There will be lawsuits, and
it will be ineligible for federal grants."
The BART extension will need at least $834 million in federal rail
money, but the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission is not
concerned about Cohen's critique.
MTC spokesman Randy Rentschler said the Santa Clara County sales tax
that pays for BART also expands light rail and bus service, and the
proposed BART line will make stops in East San Jose, with its high
concentration of minorities.
The issue will come to a boil on Friday when the MTC unveils its $82
billion spending plan and a related regional transit expansion plan.
If BART and VTA ratify their tentative deal, the Commission will
include the South Bay extension in both plans, a necessary step to
qualify for federal money. The MTC will adopt the plans on Dec. 19.
The BART extension to San Jose would fare well, according to a set of
criteria adopted by MTC last summer.
Less certain are the chances of a BART extension to Livermore or the
latest proposal to link Livermore to Dublin/Pleasanton Station by a
hybrid rail service called tBART. MTC officials say some version will
be part of the plan to be unveiled on Friday.
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