Published Thursday, November 8, 2001 
   
BART deal leaves out East Bay

     Extensions to Antioch and Livermore get no new funds or support
   
   By Lisa Vorderbrueggen
   CONTRA COSTA TIMES
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   A tentative deal to take BART to San Jose guarantees scads of money
   for operations and improvement costs, but not a dime for long-awaited
   extensions to Livermore and Antioch.
   
   "The agreement is outstanding in that it makes BART and its riders
   whole with respect to the impacts of the San Jose extension, but it
   doesn't take into consideration the underserved parts of the district
   who have been waiting for transit for a very long time," said BART
   Director Joel Keller of Antioch.
   
   "It's a huge mistake," said Livermore Mayor Cathie Brown. "It's so
   disappointing that they've ignored us."
   
   The deal announced Wednesday morning calls for the Santa Clara Valley
   Transportation Authority to pay BART $48 million a year.
   
   The subsidy will cover operating costs and all systemwide
   modifications and maintenance needed to accommodate the influx of
   nearly 87,000 new riders into the already crowded BART trains. The
   costs could be anything from new fare gates to bigger platforms to
   more parking spaces.
   
   Santa Clara County officials made it clear months ago, however, that
   they would not pay an exorbitant buy-in fee to appease extension
   advocates in east Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
   
   But no one has been left behind, countered BART Director Dan Richard
   of Walnut Creek. He stressed that this deal gives BART a new line to
   Silicon Valley at no cost to riders in either money or level of
   service.
   
   "The agreement between BART and VTA is only the first step," said
   Richard, who helped negotiate the pact. "The deal sets out the rights
   and responsibilities of each agency so the project could be eligible
   for consideration.
   
   "Now, it's up to the region to hammer out an equitable regional
   transportation expansion policy, and we'll be fighting for transit
   extensions in Contra Costa and Alameda counties to be included."
   
   State Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, warned he will not support a
   regional transit expansion plan that lacks ample money for Antioch and
   Livermore. The vocal lawmaker threatened last year to sponsor a bill
   that would forcibly link the three extensions.
   
   "Any BART and Santa Clara deal has to be contingent on equity for
   Livermore and Antioch in the expansion plan," Torlakson said. "It has
   to be fair for the taxpayers and riders who've been paying BART taxes
   for 38 years."
   
   The Metropolitan Transportation Commission ordered the accord as a
   condition for placing the $3.7 billion, 21-mile extension to San Jose
   in the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan, a document that sets out the
   Bay Area's transportation spending priorities.
   
   Without the designation, the project would not be eligible to compete
   in Washington, D.C., for the $834 million in federal aid needed to
   build the line.
   
   Unprecedented levels of local money combined with powerful political
   support virtually guarantee the Silicon Valley extension will top the
   list when the commission unveils it Friday.
   
   Santa Clara County voters overwhelmingly approved a 30-year tax
   measure last fall that will raise $6 billion for a host of transit
   projects, including $2 billion for BART. Gov. Gray Davis gave the
   county an additional $760 million last year.
   
   Extensions to Antioch and Livermore have far less money or political
   clout, factors Keller fears will push his constituents' desires to the
   bottom of the list.
   
   In an attempt to extend BART without building costly extensions,
   Keller endorses a concept coined e-BART and t-BART. Small trains would
   run on existing railroad tracks in Brentwood and Livermore to carry
   riders to the Pittsburg and Dublin/Pleasanton BART stations.
   
   "If we could get funding, we could have service up and running in
   three to five years," Keller said. "I don't want to blow this deal,
   but I represent people who feel there is a fundamental issue of
   fairness here."
   
   Environmentalists, meanwhile, slammed the deal because Santa Clara
   County guarantees it will pay the subsidy from its Transit Development
   Account if it cannot find a new source of money. The quarter-cent
   sales tax generates $100 million a year for transit services.
   
   "They are putting bus and light rail services that primarily serve
   low-income people on the chopping block in the event they don't raise
   massive amounts of new funds," said Stuart Cohen with the
   Oakland-based Bay Area Land Use and Transit Coalition. "It violates
   criteria set by the federal government and the Metropolitan
   Transportation Commission."
   
   BART demanded collateral because Santa Clara has only four years of
   operating money in its 30-year sales tax program. The authority must
   find a new and permanent source of cash.
   
   Lisa Vorderbrueggen can be reached at 925-945-4773 or
   lvorderbrueggen@cctimes.com.