New shuttle route approved despite worries about cost

Some council members hope service will fill transit gaps

Palo Alto City Council members have approved a new South Palo Alto shuttle route that they hope will fill some gaps in bus service left by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s proposed cutbacks.

But council members acknowledged that paying for the new route — which will be provided at no cost to riders — could be a challenge.

The council last week declared the South Palo Alto route a priority but hesitated to commit to the full $1.8 million cost to expand the shuttle system as proposed by transportation staff, in part for financial reasons.

Ultimately the council approved a Transit Vision Plan after hearing from Joshuah Mello, Palo Alto’s chief transportation official, that “having this plan on the books is an important tool to help us secure some funding.”

The estimated cost of adding the South Palo Alto route is about $625,000 per year, Mello said. Expanding the existing Crosstown and Embarcadero routes would cost about $1.2 million per year. Currently, the Crosstown and Embarcadero routes cost the city $531,776 per year.

Council members expressed a desire to provide a new line from the California Avenue Caltrain station to the VA Palo Alto Health Care System that would replicate in part the elimination of VTA’s Route 88, which is heavily used by seniors and students.

The majority of council members, however, questioned how the city would pay for it all. Vice Mayor Liz Kniss categorized the overhaul as an “overreach.”

Councilman Tom DuBois said the shuttle system overhaul “feels very expensive,” especially since the price doesn’t include Mello’s request for a campaign to rebrand and market it.

“I am really struggling with the idea of tripling our shuttle expenditures,” DuBois said. “We’re an aging city and the focus on age-friendly service is important … but I’m definitely hesitant to just ramp up the shuttle with no proof it’s going to work.”

In a discussion earlier this year, council members insisted that VTA pick up the tab for any expenses Palo Alto incurs to compensate for eliminated bus lines.

Mello told council members he was disappointed to learn that VTA only plans to allocate $1.6 million per year to innovative local projects, such as Palo Alto’s shuttle system, from Measure B, a transportation improvement measure voters approved in November.

The measure is expected to generate $6 billion through a countywide half-cent sales tax increase for 30 years. Of that, $500 million is to go to transit operations for vulnerable and underserved populations, but VTA plans to take the bulk of that amount for its own service, Mello said.

Palo Alto would have to compete with other Santa Clara County cities for the $1.6 million, Mello added.

On the bright side, Mello said, only two cities in the county currently operate shuttles — Mountain View and Palo Alto — and only two other cities are interested in such systems: Morgan Hill and Gilroy.

Councilman Eric Filseth underscored that he wants Palo Alto to use “all possible avenues” to get money back from the VTA.

The agency does not get to say, “We’ll keep the money, but we’re still going to cut service,” he said.

“It sort of feels like we’re getting sold the same horse twice or maybe more than twice,” Filseth said. “The fact is: The VTA sees Palo Alto as a cash box, an ATM to bail out their insufficient service to the rest of the county. … This is outrageous. We are paying VTA for transportation that we don’t get.”

Mello said there’s still time for the city to petition the VTA board to increase the amount allocated for local programs like shuttles. The board is expected to adopt guidelines for Measure B allocations Sept. 7.

In May, the VTA board adopted the Final Transit Service Plan, which cuts services in Palo Alto. The plan was expected to be implemented by the end of 2017, coinciding with the start of BART service to Santa Clara County. Delays to the start of service at the new Milpitas and Berryessa Stations means changes to bus lines would not occur until 2018.

Under VTA’s new service plan, Route 88 in Palo Alto would be replaced by routes 288, 288A and 288B. Buses in those three routes would run once in the morning bringing students to Gunn, and twice in the afternoon — once from Gunn after classes let out and later to pick up students who stayed for extracurricular activities.

VTA officials have contended that although Route 88 serves Gunn High School students and others traveling along the Charleston-Arastradero corridor, the buses only fill up when students come and go but are empty in the middle of the day.

Palo Alto’s new South Palo Alto route would run every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and serve Gunn High School and the Veterans Administration campus as well as the Midtown and Palo Verde neighborhoods, Mitchell Park, Truman Middle School, the Moldaw Senior Residences and more.

The City Council also held off on committing to expanding the Crosstown shuttle, which runs along Middlefield Road, because of a request from VTA.

Council members asked city staff to return with more information on how the shuttle system could explore models that are more flexible and incorporate “more modern approaches.”

Those approaches could include an on-demand system where shuttles take detours to pick up a rider who can’t get to a stop or a “dynamic, fixed-flex” system, in which a shuttle has a fixed route during the day but flexible routes at other times.

“We shouldn’t pass on an essential service for one of the biggest needs in Palo Alto, which is getting around town, reducing congestion and improving mobility for people who either don’t drive, can’t drive, don’t want to drive and add to congestion, especially when we start charging for parking downtown,” Wolbach said.

Mayor Greg Scharff said he’d like to see a shuttle plan that addresses the city’s goal of helping residents and visitors be more mobile. The plan also should work to improve ridership by all Palo Alto residents and not just students and seniors, Scharff said.

“We’re an aging city and the focus on age-friendly service is important … but I’m definitely hesitant to just ramp up the shuttle with no proof it’s going to work.”

— Tom DuBois, Palo Alto City Councilman