Restarting light rail will take a little longer
New VTA leader talks about San Jose BART extension, virus and more
The new leader of the Valley Transportation Authority is pushing back the estimate to mid-August for the South
Bay’s light-rail system to resume operations after the deadliest mass shooting in Bay
Area history.
VTA officials recently said the public could be riding trains again by the end of July, about two months after a disgruntled worker opened fire inside the system’s maintenance and dispatch facilities on the morning of May 26, killing nine co-workers before taking his own life. But General Manager Carolyn Gonot said Wednesday, in her first interview since starting the job this week, that the agency is working as fast as it can but won’t be able to meet that target.
System leaders laid out plans for VTA’s yearslong recovery from the shooting at a special board meeting Tuesday: They plan to extensively renovate or perhaps rebuild altogether the two buildings at the Guadalupe Yard complex where workers were killed, and to run the light-rail system out of a yet-to-be-determined “intermediate” facility for three to five years while that work proceeds.
More immediately, VTA is constructing temporary facilities from which workers can oversee the three-line light-rail system through the coming months, until the intermediate location is ready.
Gonot, who worked at VTA for more than two decades before leaving the agency in 2019 to lead the Utah Transit Authority, is returning to the South Bay transit agency during perhaps its most difficult chapter. She will be paid a base salary of $350,000.
Along with the shooting’s aftermath, she will lead VTA’s recovery from COVID-19, which has led to major declines in bus and light-rail ridership. Even before the pandemic, criticism of the agency had been mounting for its low ridership in the car
dominated South Bay and for the rising price tag of the $6.9 billion extension of BART service through downtown San Jose, which VTA is building.
The agency also is facing questions about whether it may have missed red flags from Samuel Cassidy, the gunman in the May 26 shooting who was investigated multiple times for onthe-job outbursts against co-workers. Gonot declined to answer questions about Cassidy’s history.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
Q
Given all of the challenges VTA is facing, what do you consider your top priorities right now?
A
This tragedy that happened in May, it’s going to be a long healing journey.
Bringing light rail back is really important — that’s a major focus right now and over the next six weeks, to make sure that we can get it back up to resuming normal service. Part of that is making sure that the workforce is very well positioned to be able to come back to work in an environment where they feel safe and are able to serve the public well.
Q
When can riders expect light-rail service to resume, and what needs to happen to make
that possible?
A
The first piece we need to bring back are supervisors and managers, and do track inspections. Because we have been down for a while, this is required by the California Public Utilities Commission. The timing of bringing employees on is going to take a little longer. Many of them are ready to come back, (but) we need to have the resources and the tools for them to be able to be up and running.
My guess is we’re probably looking toward starting revenue service around mid-August.
Q
Many riders have been understanding when it comes to how difficult this situation is for VTA, but at this point we are talking about a more than two-month stoppage of a system that thousands of people were riding each day. Should VTA have done more to provide an interim option, like providing bus service in place of trains?
A
The issue is, do we actually have the resources, (or) the ability to redesign the system? It takes about 60 bus drivers to duplicate the light-rail service, so that makes it very difficult to do. I wish we could do it. I’m not sure that we could plan and do that in that time frame.
Q
Beyond the May 26 tragedy, VTA and other public transit agencies are facing the challenge of rebuilding ridership in the pandemic’s wake. What is the agency’s plan for doing that?
A
We’re probably not going to come back exactly the same way. (Our) new transit service plans will have to (consider): What are the conditions we are coming back to? Who’s coming back to work? Who were our riders before? Who are our riders now?
There was a need (during the pandemic) for essential workers to ride transit — and they don’t need to ride transit in that 8-to-5 period. That’s a critical market. As we come back, I know part of that will be looking at more frequent service, more midday service, more latenight service.
Q
VTA also is planning for the next phase of the Silicon Valley BART extension, which has faced criticism for its rising price tag, delays in its schedule and design decisions. Do you think there
needs to be any rethinking of plans for the extension?
A
I think that this project has been the most desired project in the region for a very long time. I started working on this in 1986 when I came into the Bay Area.
The economic development it will spur, and the connections it will provide, particularly in the Diridon (Station) area, are amazing — it will be the largest rail hub on the West Coast.
It is a mega-project — like (in) many other metropolitan areas in the country, it takes a long time to get us moving. (But) I believe that the way we are constructing it is appropriate. There are so many risks when we looked at other alternatives, so I’m a believer that this will have great benefits into the future.
Q
What other ways do you want to have an impact at VTA?
A
One of the things I’m really interested in is having more innovation in our mobility. Looking at some of these ways to serve our communities better without the 40-foot bus is really going to be critical.
I’d like to build more public-private partnerships. I’d like to work closer with universities in terms of innovation. When many of us are dealing with the day-to-day operations, we forget to put our head up and look to other areas — but there are a lot of good
ideas out there.