Hotel 22 bus route might have to limit service.
Circuit covers overnight bus line from Eastridge to Palo Alto transit centers
Hotel 22 may be closing its doors.
That’s the nickname given to the Valley Transportation Authority’s overnight bus line from the Eastridge Transit Center to Palo Alto Transit Center along El Camino Real, The Alameda and Santa Clara Street. It’s been an oasis of sorts where for decades homeless riders have been able to grab a seat, doze off, get out of the rain and chill and for a few hours feel safe from fears of living on the street.
Officially it’s Route 22, but soon in a cost-cutting move, the only all-night bus line in Silicon Valley may stop running from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., leaving about 160 riders searching for a way to get around in the wee hours of the morning.
Few are happy about canceling the three buses that make this nightly run. But the VTA faces annual deficits of $20 million a year and is looking to cut both bus and light rail service that could save $15 million.
“My knee-jerk reaction is that we shouldn’t cut this service,” said VTA board member and San Jose councilman Raul Peralez. “It shouldn’t be the only way.”
Some riders agree. “There has to be an overnight service along El Camino,” said Andrew Boone of San Jose, who often rode the late night 22 bus when he lived in Palo Alto.
He told VTA board members that they “should be proud” that homeless individuals — some whose kids ride with them — see it as a refuge.
“It’s a public transportation benefit,” Boone said. “It’s none
of your business where they live. Cutting this service doesn’t make any sense.”
The VTA has not hassled homeless riders. If they have a ticket, they can grab their belongings and hop onboard.
Around 60 bus lines will be trimmed. Four express routes will be eliminated. The light rail spur or purple line to Almaden is on the chopping block and the Blue Line would end at Baypointe Station.
Most bus cuts will shave a little time in the morning and late night, starting 30 minutes later or 30 minutes to an hour earlier as the VTA attempts to make the changes as pain-free as possible. But two all-day bus routes — 13 (Almaden) and 65 (Leigh) — may be discontinued due to low ridership.
VTA’s current transit service covers about 30 percent of the county. The draft plan would cover 10 percent of the county, focusing on routes with the most riders such as through downtown San Jose on Santa Clara Street.
VTA says ridership and coverage are both good goals, but it is not possible to do both with limited resources and that it must find an appropriate and difficult balance between spending its fixed budget on ridership or coverage goals. Several public meetings will be held from the end of January through February.
VTA planner Adam Burger called these cuts “tough recommendations,” especially to the 22 route. “There are big changes on the light rail side, too.”
The VTA will consider cuts in May and bus driver NanceyPlew dreads what will happen to her passengers, many of whom she knows on a first-name basis.
“You won’t believe how many people are getting to and from jobs on 22 from 1-4 in the morning,” she said. “They’re stocking shelves at grocery stores, working as bartenders and security guards.”
Of the 160 nightly riders on Hotel 22, one in four has no place to call home.
“They depend on us,” Plew said. “They fill up the bus. We are keeping them safe, keeping them warm.”
For now.