2017 looking like a great year for public transit
QExciting times for public transit in Santa Clara County. BART, Eastridge light rail, bus rapid transit on Alum Rock Avenue. Looks like 2017 is gonna be awesome for transit. Aman Ardalan San Jose
AThere’s more. The Valley Transportation Authority will likely be changing bus routes to serve more riders, especially with increased frequency during the middle of the day and on weekends. And bus connections from BART to the South Bay will be reconfigured.
QThe Alum Rock BRT (bus rapid transit) project is great and badly needed. Hopefully it will set an example for other projects in the Bay Area so buses don’t get held up in traffic. Duncan Keefe San Jose
AThe Alum Rock/Santa Clara BRT will provide seven miles of limited-stop service from Eastridge in East San Jose along Capitol Expressway, Alum Rock Avenue and Santa Clara Street to the SAP Center downtown, giving riders a fast trip to and from Sharks games, concerts and more.
During commute hours, the BRT buses will run every 10 minutes.
The bus-only lane on Alum Rock will begin east of 34th street in the median. Traffic signals will stay green as a bus approaches an intersection.
BRT lines have also been proposed for El Camino Real to Palo Alto and Stevens Creek Boulevard to De Anza College, but there is significant opposition to the El Camino idea.
QHow will light rail be affected by the opening of BART in Milpitas and San Jose? Fred V. San Jose
AThere will be a new light-rail route along Tasman Drive and Capitol Expressway between downtown Mountain View and the Alum Rock Transit Center, operating every 15 minutes.
The Mountain View/ Winchester line to the Old Ironsides station in Santa Clara will operate every 15 minutes during the day instead of every 30 minutes.
And express trains from Baypointe/Santa Teresa to St. James/Santa Teresa will be doubled from three in each direction to six.
Q Any new information about the proposed light-rail extension from Winchester station in Campbell south toward Los Gatos? John Saunders Campbell
AMost preconstruction work has been completed. Now the question is where the $176 million needed to build the 1.6-mile extension to Vasona Junction will come from.
The just-approved Measure B earmarks $500 million over 30 years for transit, but most of that will be for bus upgrades.
The Vasona light-rail line was not specifically mentioned in the tax plan. Q Are fans taking the Capitol Corridor trains to 49er and Raider games or is this a waste of taxpayer dollars? Bill Reyes San Leandro
AAverage weekend ridership in October grew by 2 percent from a year ago, and most of that is attributed to strong ridership to the football games. Average weekday ridership is 4 percent higher than a year ago