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Measure A/B

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PR2000 In the News

Peninsula Rail 2000 has received a lot of press coverage in recent

weeks. The controversy surrounding the VTA Caltrain Measure A/B plan

was covered on the KNTV Channel 11, 6 o’clock news on multiple days.

PR2000 members Jim Stallman and Andy Chow were shown on the 11

o’clock news passing out flyers.

Editorials by the Palo Alto Daily News and San Jose Mercury News

supported PR2000 in advocating the increase to 86 trains. Unfortunately, at

least one key element of VTA’s ineffectual plan for Measure A/B Caltrain

expenditures remains intact. This is explained below.

Margaret Okuzumi was the featured guest on PAX TV’s (KKPX) public

affairs program on Jan. 22, focusing on possible East Bay-South Bay rail

connections. Last November, she and Vaughn Wolffe of Rail Passengers

Association of California were guest speakers on KBAY radio.

San Mateo County Transportation Authority

San Mateo County is developing a new county-wide transportation

plan in case SCA3, a pending bill in the California legislature, should pass.

SCA3 would allow voters a one-time opportunity to approve or renew 20-

year county sales taxes for transportation (for transit, highway and road

projects) with a majority, rather than two-thirds vote required for passage-

-as long as a transportation plan is ready by May. In anticipation, many

counties are rushing to put plans together, which seems unlikely to result in

good plans.

Several Peninsula Rail 2000 members attended the San Mateo County

Transportation Authority (SMCTA) workshop in January to review the first

draft of the Measure A extension plan. Immediately apparent was the

heavy emphasis on funding Caltrain grade separations as well as the miniscule

allotment for bicycle projects, and several other troublesome proposals and

wordings. PR2000 members stated that track-elevating grade-separation

projects are often designed solely for the convenience of motorists. A poor

design may not improve train performance or convenience, may make sta-

tions less pedestrian-friendly, and spread train noise over a wider residen-

tial area due to lack of buffering from ground-level commercial buildings.

Influenced by public comments made by these PR2000 members, the SMCTA

board suggested some significant changes. Naomi Patridge suggested

increasing funding for bikes from less than 1% to at least 1%. Most signifi-

cantly, County Supervisor Rich Gordon proposed that grade-separation

projects be categorized in a separate category from either transit or road

projects. The immediate effect of this was to significantly increase funding

for Caltrain, since Caltrain would still get the same percentage of funds but

would no longer have to fund grade separations from its share.

With the upcoming departure of indefatigable transportation and cy-

cling activist Scott Mace to the East Bay, there will be a serious void of

people watchdogging transportation plans in San Mateo County. If you live

in San Mateo County and would like to know how to get started in following

transportation issues, please give Margaret a call at (408) 732-8712.

San Mateo County Transportation Plan Online

The 115-page Countywide Transportation Plan (CTP) is now available on

the World Wide Web. The address is:

http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/planning/ctp.html

Questions can be asked of Mark Duino at 650-363-1855, who presented it at

the November meeting of the Congestion Management Advisory Committee.

Of seven transit alternatives presented, three discuss extending BART

down the Peninsula to San Jose, even replacing Caltrain. The costs of doing

that, however, are acknowledged to be prohibitive. There is also a heavy

emphasis on providing ferry transit in all proposals. Many environmental groups

have opposed some ferry plans due to potential impacts on the San Francisco

Bay, and many transit groups such as PR2000 believe that directing ferry monies

toward improving Caltrain and bus service would get more cars off the road.

If you are a Santa Clara County resident, please use the

contact list on page 7 to contact your VTA representative.

Please let them know that you think improved, electrified

Caltrain service is important.

Peninsula Rail 2000 has long held the view that electrification

of the Caltrain line should be a top priority along with necessary

track repair and track reconfiguration for faster, smoother, and

more frequent trains. If electrification of Caltrain were made

the top priority of these monies, in 2-4 years we could run 96

trains/week (trains every five minutes in the peak and every

half hour in the off-peak), improving service and generating

revenue for needed station improvements. It would also save

VTA money by providing diesel trains for additional ACE service

and Warm Springs Corridor train service.

take a stronger stance against wasting train money on projects that do little

to benefit riders.”

On Feb. 3, the VTA board amended the 1996 Measure A Caltrain

Plan to include a goal of increasing Caltrain service levels between San

Jose and San Francisco to 86-weekday trains by no later than 2006, and

committed to working with the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board

(PCJPB) in good faith to achieve this goal.

The Sunnyvale station project seems to have emerged intact for

now. The County Supervisors feel that they decide general

policy, not the merits of individual projects. Even with a project

as bad as this one it seems the buck stops with the appointed

VTA Board and the City of Sunnyvale. However, we may have

some legal recourse under federal ADA laws.

Thanks and congratulations to all of you who wrote, phoned,

and faxed the supervisors, or attended the Board of Supervisors

meeting on January 25. Until VTA comes up with a concrete

plan for increasing the train service as directed, we need to

keep an eye on this issue and continue the flow of letters to the

VTA Board, the County Supervisors, and Caltrain.

Santa Clara County Caltrain Measure A/B Update

The rider-unfriendly Sunnyvale station plan is going forward, but

not unchallenged. If you as a rider would like well-designed

stations without excessively long pedestrian detours, barriers to

people with disabilities, poor bicycle accommodations or forced

pedestrian confrontation with automobiles, please join our

campaign. The Sunnyvale project will set a precedent for future

station projects all along the Caltrain line.

This is for everyone who is tired of seeing millions in public tax

monies become monuments to the treatment of transit riders as

second-class citizens. This is about basic dignity of experience in

going to and from the station. To join this campaign, send email to

okuzumi@silcon.com.

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