Many view corporate shuttles favorably
Majority of poll respondents agrees buses have reduced local traffic
SAN JOSE » Those corporate shuttle buses that lumber along Bay Area freeways, often packed with tech workers from Google, Apple, Facebook and other companies, are viewed favorably by voters who see them as a way to ease the region’s brutal commute, according to a poll released Wednesday.
“A lot of people are thinking would they rather be in traffic behind one private company shuttle bus filled with 42 people rather than behind 42 cars, each filled with a single driver,” said Carl Guardino, president of the San Jose-based Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which commissioned the poll of voters in Santa Clara County.
The poll asked the question: “Do you believe privately operated commuter bus shuttles have had a positive impact in reducing traffic on local streets and roads?” The leadership group revealed that 78 percent of the poll respondents replied yes, 10 percent said no, and 12 percent had no opinion.
The poll of 600 likely voters in Santa Clara County was conducted from May 3 through May 9 of this year, the leadership group stated.
The poll also asked: “Should privately owned bus shuttles, operated by tech companies to help deliver their employees to work, be allowed to use public transit stops?” Of respondents, 73 percent said yes, 16 percent said no, and 10 percent expressed no opinion.
These transit stops could include park-and-ride lots, or BART station parking lots.
“These results are pleasantly surprising and essential to guide policy makers who might wonder whether or not to provide access to private company shuttles, to public transit facilities and parking areas,” Guardino said.
The shuttle buses could be part of the solution to a stickler of a problem.
“The corporate shuttles can eliminate the first mile and last-mile problem that many of our commuters face,” said Guardino. “That means linking with bus, light rail, Caltrain and BART stations.”
The poll results also suggest that voters in Santa Clara County are willing to think outside the box to help tackle the worsening woes of Bay Area traffic.
“The benefits of employer-run commuter shuttles are indisputable,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council.
The Bay Area Council in recent years led a coalition of corporations to develop a commuter shuttle bus program in the region.
“We learned firsthand how valuable shuttles are in getting cars off our congested roads and highways, taking pressure off overwhelmed public transit systems and avoiding polluting tailpipe emissions,” Wunderman said.
In Santa Clara County, this proposed solution would not impact city street bus stops, but would provide employer shuttles access to certain transportation facilities and institute a formal permitting process for using these facilities.
“The idea is to add people to public forms of transportation in a synergistic way with employee shuttles,” Guardino said. “And for regional trips, not currently served by a county bus provider, the employer shuttle at no cost to taxpayers can eliminate some longhaul county commutes,” Guardino said.
Implementation wouldn’t likely require any increases in county taxes, or ballot measures, Guardino said.
“These corporate shuttles can supplement county bus systems and fill in for a lack of regional public transit alternatives,” Guardino said. Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167.