Jan. 1 transit changes include paying to park at stations
QWhen will VTA have more buses, more routes and better schedules for passengers? Better routing without having to transfer to another bus would also solve transit issues for most passengers. — Linda Adams
AA lot of changes are coming Jan. 1. More frequent buses on the busiest routes and less service on lines with few riders, plus fare changes and free transfers for two hours between all VTA vehicles for riders who purchase fares with Clipper.
More changes will go into effect when the BART extension into San Jose opens around June. Riders getting on board in Milpitas or the Berryessa stations will have to pay for parking at garages and surface lots with a daily flat fee of $3. A monthly pass will cost $50 and long-term parking will be $7 a day. Electric vehicle charging will be $1.25 an hour, plus the $3 daily fee.
Parking fees will be charged 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
QOn Stevens Creek Boulevard near my home, some agency spent about a week removing all the concrete from a bus stop. Now they are ripping up the street about a block away at Cabot Avenue to install a new concrete stop.
How can an agency justify moving a bus stop only one block? — Ron Johnstone
AAs part of the new Rapid 523 bus service along Stevens Creek, VTA is upgrading a series of high ridership stops with new bus pads, sidewalks, and shelters. Concrete pads are needed because of the exposure to heavy loads and resistance to diesel and oil fuel.
In the Cabot Avenue area, the city of Santa Clara requested that the existing stop be moved to the east side of the intersection for environmental reasons.
QYou stated that it costs VTA $7,000 to run a train from the SAP center to Winchester after Sharks games. If that’s true, no wonder VTA always needs more money. One operator and two cars for a 20-minute run can’t possibly cost that much. I thought about this while waiting until 10:50 p.m. for a train after the game last Monday night. Last year I would have been home by then. — Jeff Schuler, San Jose
AThe cost includes dispatch, maintenance, road supervisors, administrative staff and maintenance expenses, plus the extra trains.
QI thought light rail was going to Eastridge. What happened? — Gary Moitozo, San Jose
AIt’s on hold until the VTA comes up with more money. The cost of the project is $377 million and $247 million has been committed. The missing $130 million is needed by March 2019 to construct the project. It’s tentatively planned to be done by 2023.