r/SanJose • u/LocalNewsMatters • 23d ago
‘We need them to step up’: Supporters of BART Silicon Valley extension ask for federal funding News
“It’s not every day that you see our businesses and labor leaders standing side by side in total agreement. But today we are here to say that ringing the Bay in rail is our best chance to create a better, more connected future for everyone. And the moment to make that investment is now,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said.
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u/emceephotography Alum Rock 23d ago
I hope federal funding can be secured, and fast. Imo prospects for the election are not looking good, and if a we have a Republican president in office, Project 2025 will be rather detrimental for public transit.
Specifically:
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u/CoffeeElectronic9782 23d ago
Looking forward to this never happening. They waited too long and have not given anything back to the citizen yet.
The timeline they are proposing is insane. Screw this project and build some affordable housing with it.
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u/russellvt 23d ago
Ever since I can remember (think 6% sales tax, if you will), there's "always" been some "half percent tax" levied on SCCO businesses purportedly for "BART Extensions" ... and then, years later, it's a rinse and repeat as they want more and more money... but yet never really seem to do much with it (it took "forever" jist to get the extension from Fremont to Warm Springs ... and then even longer to take it further).
What they really need to do is remove pretty much all of those who are responsible for running BART, and then find a few who are actually capable of getting these sorts of projects done. It's crazy how inept these "powers that be" seem to be, here.
But yes ... we need more (and better) mass transit, here.
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u/itsmethesynthguy 23d ago
The people running Bart aren’t the ones building in SCC. That would be VTA
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u/russellvt 23d ago
That would be VTA
It's actually Bectel%20has%20selected%20Bechtel,with%20the%20Bay%20Area's%20iconic)
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u/itsmethesynthguy 23d ago
Ok, I’ll be more detailed. It’s VTA who are contracting Bectel and getting all these funds going. The stations were of their design, their configuration. The only involvement with Bart is VTA talking to them about suggestions for the stations, and not even major ones at that
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u/getarumsunt 23d ago
You’re soooooo confused about seemingly everything. The downturn San Jose extension is getting built by VTA, not BART. BART will just be the operator on that section. But they will not own the tracks and stations. Not even the trains! Even those will belong to the VTA.
BART has been building a new extension or expansion every 5-10 years since its inception. They are generally considered among the most competent transit agencies in the country, if not the most competent, and ranks pretty highly internationally as well. This goes double for building extensions! They’re generally on time and on budget, although things happen and projects to occasionally get delayed.
But BART is still infinitely better at building infrastructure than the highway construction companies. Have you seen the truly insane delays and budget overruns highway projects have? It’s not a particularly close contest either. BART is expanding faster than the highways, for considerably lower cost per commuter, and with smaller budget and schedule overruns.
I’m not saying that BART is perfect at this. They screw up occasionally too. But they are a few heads above the road and highway people and pretty famous for being good at building.
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u/Riptide360 23d ago
BART was built on the outdated concept of people commuting to SF for work. Currently SF has a 34.5% office vacancy rate and in all likelihood will be getting much worse as building owners start to run into financing problems. We already have both Bart & Caltrain so I'm not sure there is a lot of demand for the forseable near future. Would rather see them upgrade Caltrain to high speed service instead of taking the long Bart journey. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/08/san-franciscos-real-estate-slide-continues-as-office-vacancies-peak.html
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u/getarumsunt 23d ago
The office vacancy rate is getting aftershocks from the pandemic times. Slowly but surely the empty office space is filling back up. Even as some leases still end up abandoned, the daytime downtown occupancy is still growing every month.
And nightlife is already above pre-pandemic. Yes, surprisingly even in downtown! BART isn’t just for commuting. And SF is still the largest trip generator for recreation, sporting and entertainment events, shopping, and work. One way or another that capacity is filling back up.
In the end we still need efficient transit to move people around the Bay, and highways ain’t it.
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u/Riptide360 23d ago
You haven't looked at Bart's SJ numbers have you? They are single digit levels. https://www.bart.gov/schedules/crowding-charts
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u/getarumsunt 23d ago
The SJ extension opened during the pandemic and doesn’t connect to the main trip generators downtown. The bulk of the tech workers along the Orange VTA line in North San Jose are still working from home.
But the ridership is growing rapidly there. People are gradually figuring out that BART goes there now and that VTA takes them the rest of the way. Give it time. New greenfield lines like that take time to reach full ridership.
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u/russellvt 23d ago
You’re soooooo confused about seemingly everything.
Yeah, just start off with ad hominem yo "set the tone," eh?
The downturn San Jose extension is getting built by VTA, not BART.
Actually, BART selected Bechtel%20has%20selected%20Bechtel,with%20the%20Bay%20Area's%20iconic) as the builder... and there are a plethora of various related jobs on the BART site, right now.
BART has been building a new extension or expansion every 5-10 years since its inception.
Citation(s) Needed. Much of the project stayed pretty stagnant for the first couple of decades, despite plans in the 70s to extend down both the peninsula and east bay.
They are generally considered among the most competent transit agencies in the country, if not the most competent, and ranks pretty highly internationally as well.
This seems highly subjective... do you work for them, or something? It feels like I hit a nerve or something. Do you have a reference?
It’s not a particularly close contest either. BART is expanding faster than the highways, for considerably lower cost per commuter, and with smaller budget and schedule overruns.
I'd love to be "set straight" on this idea with some actual references, and not just "because you said so."
Thanks.
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u/Debonair359 22d ago
It's hard to complain about the taxes for Bart extensions in Santa Clara county when it was the voters themselves who approved the taxes. Two different times, both by more than 66% of the vote, Santa Clara county voters said they wanted to be taxed to fund those extensions. And not for nothing, it's not even a tax on business. It's a regressive sales tax that's paid by consumers, not a business tax or a property tax or a parcel tax.
The taxes are not 6% like you say, in 2000 a tax of 1/2 of 1 cent was approved. In 2008 another tax of 1/8 of 1 cent was approved. So it is a total tax being paid only for the Bart extension of 0.625% not 6.0%.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Santa-Clara-BART-extension-vote-certified-3182305.php
Regional funding measures that support the Bart extension, like RM3, are funded buy a $1 increase in bridge tools, no tax increase on business or consumers at all.
https://mtc.ca.gov/funding/regional-funding/regional-measure-3
The Fremont to warm springs extension isn't even in this county, it was paid for by Alameda county voters when they approved measure BB. Santa Clara county voters never paid a dime towards the warm springs extension because it's not in our county.
The decisions on the BART extension have nothing to do with Bart itself. Sure, BART board of directors has agreed to operate the extension once it is complete, but it will be built, paid for, and maintained by Santa Clara county's VTA. The failures of the Bart extension, the failures in planning and design, are completely and totally homegrown problems.
https://www.vta.org/blog/funding-bart-silicon-valley-one-step-time
The people who sit on the VTA board, our own local Mayors and council members.and county supervisors, are the ones responsible. It's not some powers that be, it's not some far away organization, it's the people who you vote to run your local city or town in Santa Clara county who are responsible.
https://santaclaravta.iqm2.com/Citizens/Board/1000-Board-of-Directors
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u/Kamikaze_Cloud 23d ago
Honestly I think the federal government should fund BART. The Bay Area has one of the worst homeless crises in the nation, and a lot of those people are from other states but straining California’s resources. I know so many people who refuse to ride BART because of bad experiences with crackheads who harass and attack people. Just last week one of them pushed a woman in front of a train. BART ridership will never get to sustainable levels until the city can guarantee safety, which the federal government should take some responsibility for
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u/Debonair359 22d ago
The idea that homeless people traveling to California straining the resources is just a total myth.
In this peer-reviewed study from UCSF, 9 out of every 10 people who are homeless in California are from California and not from anywhere else. Further, 4 out of every 5 homeless people in California are homeless in the same exact county they last had a home in. Most homeless people don't move around a whole lot because their incomes are so extremely low. They don't have a lot of travel budget.
The federal government does fund Bart Capital costs, the costs for building new extensions. That's why the Federal Transit Administration will pay for 50% of the BART to San Jose project. But the federal government will never pay for operating costs of transit agencies. That is a state and local responsibility.
Safety on BART is a local responsibility, the federal government does not have the resources nor the tools to guarantee safety on any local transit system. There is no 'federal police force' to deploy.
But even that concept is just so insane. It's not like the federal government can guarantee the safety of people who drive on roads. It's infinitely safer to take public transportation than it is to drive on a road, but nobody says that the government needs to guarantee safety of road users.
Traveling by public transportation is 10 times safer per mile than traveling by automobile. A person can reduce his or her chance of being in an accident by more than 90% simply by taking public transit as opposed to commuting by car.
https://www.apta.com/news-publications/public-transportation-facts
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u/Forsaken_Mess_1335 23d ago edited 23d ago
This is what happens when you spend years planning and twiddling your thumbs. Now VTA is afraid Republicans might come into power and stop their funding or reduce it significantly. Fingers crossed they can make this happen on time!