GILROY
– When calculated by the hour, transit service in Santa Clara
County will be reduced to 1981 levels if the latest in a series of
service reductions is approved by Valley Transportation Authority
leaders this summer.
The county’s bus and transit agency released sobering details
Friday on another series of cuts
– roughly 21 percent this time around – that are meant to help
combat the agency’s unprecedented fiscal crisis.
GILROY – When calculated by the hour, transit service in Santa Clara County will be reduced to 1981 levels if the latest in a series of service reductions is approved by Valley Transportation Authority leaders this summer.
The county’s bus and transit agency released sobering details Friday on another series of cuts – roughly 21 percent this time around – that are meant to help combat the agency’s unprecedented fiscal crisis.
“For this transit agency, the wheels are coming off, we’re riding on the rims and we’re headed toward a wall,” said Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer, who is a member of the VTA board of directors along with District 1 County Supervisor Don Gage. “The cuts are neccessary to keep the agency just in basic transit service.”
If approved by the VTA board this summer, the proposal would mean reductions to 63 of VTA’s current 69 bus routes – including at least five affecting South County – and 18 routes would be eliminated outright. Fifty-three net total bus routes would remain after the cuts and the addition of two stop-gap routes.
Light rail service on the Almaden Valley spur – which runs from the Almaden station to Ohlone-Chynoweth station – would also be eliminated. And 300 to 400 more positions – almost all of them filled – would be eliminated. The changes would go into effect in October.
The fall reductions would complete an overall suite of 35 percent in service cuts in roughly a year’s time. The agency already reduced bus and light-rail service 14 percent in the past two years, and modifications to paratransit service are also in the works.
“We never want to reduce service, and we have to this point been able to keep the service reductions to the levels we have because of other cost-saving measures – deferring capital projects, using one-time revenue sources,” said VTA spokeswoman Ann-Catherine Vinickas Monday. “We’ve run out of those one-time revenue sources.”
To date officials have also cut 550 positions, raised fares by 15 percent, deferred $115 million in capital projects and made other moves designed to improve efficiency to help address the budget crunch.
Over 80 percent of the VTA’s operating budget is comprised of sales-tax revenues, which tend to be volatile and fluctuate dramatically along with the economy. With the current downturn, agency revenues have dropped 33 percent in two years after seven consecutive quarters of declining sales taxes. Without dramatic changes, officials had warned the agency would face an $160 million annual deficit.
Besides the cutbacks and fare increases, county citizens and businesses could also potentially face decisions about new taxes – or whether to borrow against existing taxes in the short-term for a new purpose – to help boost VTA revenues over the long haul.
Options discussed in recent months include an increased sales tax, a payroll tax, parcel and gas taxes. The possibility of borrowing against the revenues from the Measure A half-cent transit sales tax already approved by voters has also been raised.
A special multistakeholder financial committee organized to explore short- and long-term solutions has recommended securing new revenue sources to diversify the agency’s revenue stream, but has not yet settled on a specific solution. Financial consultants have also recommended employee benefits be explored in more detail to help address the shortfall. The agency is currently in contract negotiations with its unions. An operator who’s been at the agency for a decade makes an average of $24.89 an hour.
The fall service changes would affect at least five South County routes.
• On bus Line 16 from Burnett Avenue to Peak and Main in Morgan Hill, Saturday service would be discontinued.
• On Line 17 – which runs between the Gilroy Transit Center and St. Louise Hospital – weekday service will operate every 45 minutes and service to St. Louise would be discontinued on Sundays.
• On Line 19 from the transit center to First Street and Santa Teresa Boulevard, weekday service would also operate every 45 minutes. Early morning and late-night service levels would be reduced both on weekdays and weekends (exact schedule times will be determined at a later date).
• On Line 68 from San Jose Caltrain to Gavilan College, routing would be modified to operate on Santa Teresa, Snell and Skyway instead of Cottle Road. Peak commute-hour service on weekdays would operate every 20 minutes, while Sunday service would operate every 40 minutes. Weekend service to Gilroy would end an hour earlier than it does currently.
• Morning and afternoon service on Express Line 521 from the Gilroy Transit Center to Lockheed Martin/Moffett Park would be rescheduled to provide three trips in each direction.
South County residents can comment on the proposals at two meetings scheduled for Thursday, June 12.
The Morgan Hill meeting begins at 3 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Morgan Hill City Hall, 17555 Peak Ave.
The Gilroy meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Gilroy City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
The deadline to send in comments on the latest reductions is June 16. Contact the VTA by phone: 321-2300 (TDD: 321-2330); by e-mail: cu**************@*ta.org; by Web site: www.vta.org; or by mail: VTA, Customer Service, Building B, 3331 N. First St. San Jose CA 95134.
