The latest step toward creating a new transit future for the South Bay was taken with the approval last November of two county transportation sales tax measures. Spending plans approved as part of Santa Clara County's Measure A and Alameda County's Measure B were heavily tilted toward transit. Added to projects already proposed or underway in these two counties and San Mateo County, the Measure A & B plans will reshape the South Bay transit network.
Measure B in Alameda County is a renewal of an existing transportation sales tax. An earlier attempt at renewal failed in June 1998 when critics claimed it did not give enough funding to transit alternatives. After extensive coalition building and a restructuring to cover 20 years instead of the original 15, the measure succeeded with an 81.5% approval in the November election. Measure A in Santa Clara County is a successor to a transportation sales tax and plan which were passed in November 1996 as linked measures. The earlier plan's 16 specific traffic relief projects, from pavement repair to light rail extensions, are now being implemented. Because the new measure was placed on the ballot by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), it includes only mass transit. It was approved by a 70.4% vote in November.
Although BART from Fremont to San Jose was a feature of both measures, and largely responsible for Measure A's success, other transit districts will also benefit from the sales tax plans. Measure A will fund VTA light rail extensions, including connections from San Jose Airport to the current light rail system and BART. It will also provide funding to electrify Caltrain. Alameda's Measure B will fund a high-speed connection between Oakland International Airport and BART, and provide operating funds for AC Transit, Union City Transit, WHEELS, and the Oakland-Alameda Transbay Ferry. It will also help to fund the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) rail system. Measure B also includes highway, bicycle and pedestrian improvements. (see list of projects in the Measures.)
The two measures cover decades—Measure A begins when Santa Clara County's current sales tax expires in 2006 and will be in place for 30 years; Measure B will start in 2002 when Alameda County's current tax expires, and will last for 20 years. The funds will be added to those available from local, state and federal sources, including some money earmarked for specific projects in recent state transportation plans. In addition to BART to San Jose, the benefits of these various funding resources will include expanded bus and light rail service, upgraded Caltrain service and facilities, and a plan to provide rail across the Bay in the Dumbarton Corridor.
BART's new extension to Millbrae, part of the BART/SFO (San Francisco International Airport) project, is scheduled to open in mid-2002, bringing service farther down the west side of the Bay into San Mateo County. With the funding provided by the November ballot measures, BART is now poised to move farther down the east side of the Bay and, for the first time, into Santa Clara County. Although an extension from central Fremont to Warm Springs, just north of the Santa Clara County line, was among the first extensions planned by BART, it was was placed on the back burner several years ago after political and funding setbacks. The new plans will take BART through Warm Springs to downtown San Jose, possibly by 2010.
County sales taxes will not be enough to ensure that this happens. Although Measure A includes $2 billion for BART and Measure B includes $166 million, additional federal and state funding will be needed. Some initial state funding for planning was provided by Governor Davis last year. However, the Fremont/Warm Springs extension alone is estimated at $546 million. In addition, the city of Fremont would like to see an additional station included along the first stage of the extension, which would cost approximately $100 million. Although there is no funding currently for this Irvington station, it has been included in Fremont plans for separating roads from railroad tracks along the extension route.
In southern Alameda County, AC Transit is restructuring routes to bring buses closer to riders. Growing employment centers in Fremont, Newark and Union City have created the need to move employees from BART to workplaces as well as taking residents from homes to BART. New routes are based on a grid system instead of circuitous neighborhood travel, shaving time off trips for riders. Buses will also run earlier and later in the day, and more bus shelters are being added. These changes are intended to help current riders and attract new users.
AC Transit is using federal funding to implement several other projects to increase service efficiency. The Satcom project is a satellite tracking system which can locate buses very accurately, allowing dispatchers to check on whether a bus is on schedule, determine whether it has broken down, and suggest alternative routes around accidents. The entire fleet is expected to be Satcom-equipped in less than two years. AC Transit is also testing traffic signal priority systems along congested corridors. This technology keeps a signal green longer when a bus is approaching, minimizing traffic delays. It has been tested in San Leandro on Hesperian Boulevard, and another test is planned for San Pablo Avenue in Oakland.
Along the Berkeley-Oakland-San Leandro corridor, between Berkeley and the Bay Fair BART station, the district is considering implementing bus-rapid transit or light-rail to speed up trips and improve the quality of the ride. The five bus lines which operate in this corridor carry 20 percent of AC Transit's total ridership, approximately 45,000 riders per day. A recent study indicated that the most feasible route along the corridor would be along Telegraph Avenue through Berkeley and Oakland, to Jack London Square in Oakland, then south along International Boulevard/East 14th Street to the Bay Fair BART station in San Leandro. A special transit lane could be built along this route, allowing buses or light rail trains to avoid most red lights and traffic congestion. While light rail is faster and could better meet the demands of increased ridership, new low-emission buses are less expensive and quicker to implement.
Some of the projects from Santa Clara County's 1996 transportation sales tax are already coming into operation. One of them is the Tasman East light rail line linking North San Jose and Milpitas. This extension of the Tasman line and the new station in Milpitas at I-880 are scheduled to open in May 2001. The station will offer connections to buses and a park-and-ride lot. The Tasman line will be extended to Alum Rock Avenue by 2004. The Vasona Corridor light rail line between San Jose and Campbell will also open in 2004, and an extension from east San Jose to downtown is being planned. Starting in 2006, the new tax will fund additional lines.
Caltrain's Ponderosa Project is a rehabilitation program begun in April 1999 by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (JPB), which operates rail transit service extending from San Francisco to San Jose and south to Gilroy. The project, which is just finishing, has renovated eight stations, refurbished 9.4 miles of track and reconstructed grade crossings and bridges between Santa Clara County and San Francisco. Two new stations were also constructed, the San Mateo Transit Center and a station at Hayward Park in San Mateo County.
The Ponderosa Project is the first step in an upgrade of Caltrain which will take several years. The upgrade is needed to respond to increases in service planned in the next 10 years, from 78 to 114 daily trains in the San Jose-San Francisco segment and more than 16 daily trains between San Jose and Gilroy.
The overall upgrade program, the Caltrain Rapid Rail Program, adopted by the JPB in 1998, is extensive. It also includes a centralized signal system, electrification and a Caltrain express, utilizing passing tracks for faster service. The electrification component will benefit from funding from the new Measure A, but is already in the environmental assessment phase. The primary objectives include:
Converting from diesel power to electricity would require installation of overhead wires along the Caltrain tracks, and building up to five power substations for feeding power to the lines, depending on the way power is transmitted along the system. The JPB would also purchase electric-powered locomotives or locomotive/passenger car combinations to replace the diesel-powered locomotives (and some of the current passenger cars if motorized passenger cars are used).
Electrification is a necessary step if Caltrain is to eventually extend service from its current San Francisco station into the planned Transbay Terminal (see Dec 00/Jan 01 issue). Because the extension would need to be at least partially underground, diesel locomotives could not be used.
Another component of the Rapid Rail Program, the Caltrain Express train service, is also in the initial planning stages using state funding. It will use an extra rail line that will be constructed as a "passing lane" for express trains, allowing them to stop at only a few stations and pass around the local trains at the other stations. The express trains are projected to take 45 minutes instead of 95 minutes to travel between San Francisco and Diridon station in San Jose. They are proposed to run approximately every half-hour. Computerized traffic control, the third track, and express service are anticipated to begin in 2003.
Passenger rail service across the Dumbarton Bridge is another project which could receive funding from both sales tax measures. This proposal would replace the current bus service across the bridge with commuter rail, originating at the Union City BART station, crossing the Bay, then using Caltrain tracks to travel alternately north to Millbrae or south to Palo Alto and Diridon Station in San Jose. Trains would be stored on the Peninsula during the day and carry riders east again in the afternoon commute period. The cost would be shared between Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. While Santa Clara's Measure A allocates $40 million directly to this project, Alameda County's $14 million for Dumbarton Corridor improvements is not specifically designated for commuter rail. Measure B does contain funding for a multi-modal station at Union City BART to serve riders on BART, ACE, the Capitol Corridor intercity rail, and Dumbarton Corridor bus or rail passengers.
Both ballot measures contain funding for the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) rail service from San Joaquin County to San Jose. Measure B will provide $40 million for operations, and track and station improvements; Measure A will provide $20 million. ACE service has proved enormously successful, and will soon include a third daily round-trip, with a fourth train expected by the end of the year. ACE plans a fifth train in 2003 and a sixth train in 2006 or 2007. ACE trains use Union Pacific tracks, but discussions are underway to allow use of Caltrain tracks between Santa Clara and San Jose. This would allow an additional stop in downtown Santa Clara and provide layover space on Caltrain property for idle trains.
BART administers the Capitol Corridor intercity rail service operated by Amtrak between San Jose and Sacramento. Although this service was not included in the sales tax measures, it continues to be well-used, and new trains are being added.
Although a number of these projects are already underway, details of those in the sales tax measures are just beginning to solidify, and there are many uncertainties left in the planning process. For example, although the San Mateo City/County Association of Governments has approved moving forward with the Dumbarton Corridor rail proposal, discussions are continuing with Alameda and Santa Clara on the appropriate sharing of costs.
Meetings on the BART extension also began directly after the election, since Alameda County must update an environmental study and Santa Clara must begin one. At its January 11, 2001 meeting, VTA established the South Bay Transit Corridor Policy Advisory Board, with representatives from the VTA Board, the cities of Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency/Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority. There is also a proposal to discuss regional transit priorities at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to ensure that additional federal funds which will be needed to make the San Jose extension a reality do not come at the expense of other regional transit projects. Other concerns which have been voiced include the lack of a guarantee in Measure A to prevent diversion of money designated for light rail and Caltrain to BART if BART has cost overruns, and disagreement over the specific route through Santa Clara.
Despite the uncertainties, it is obvious that the future of the South Bay will include growing and interconnected transit systems, due to the determination of the voters and their public agencies to use all possible avenues to address the transportation challenges created by the region's growth.
Leslie Stewart
For more information:
BART: 510-464-6000;http://www.bart.gov
Alameda County Transportation Authority: 510-893-3347; http://www.acta2000.com
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA): 408-321-2345; http://www.vta.org
AC Transit: 510-891-4777; http://www.actransit.dst.ca.us (for information on Berkeley-Oakland-Fremont corridor, click on MIS icon on home page)
Caltrain: 650-508-6248; http://www.caltrain.com/caltrain
Peninsula Rail 2000, a nonprofit organization (maps and other information on Caltrain electrification and the Dumbarton corridor): http://www.rail2000.org
Altamont Commuter Express (ACE): 800-411-RAIL; http://www.acerail.com
San Mateo City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG): 650-363-4100; Richard Napier, Executive Director, pw*rnapier@co.sanmateo.ca.us