Visitors congestion all through Santa Clara County is exasperating. One in all our most congested county roads is Capitol Expressway, an artery that connects Evergreen and South San Jose commuters to highways 87, 101 and Interstate 280/680.
From 2013 to 2018, I served on the Valley Transit Authority (VTA) Board, the county’s transit and congestion administration company. I've all the time believed that we must always conduct a examine earlier than we commit to creating any massive expenditures, so I voted to check a proposed extension of sunshine rail that might probably assist ease the commute on Capitol Expressway. The challenge would prolong mild rail by 2.3 miles and join mild rail from Alum Rock to Eastridge Mall. This challenge was one among a number of transit enchancment initiatives proposed in Measure A, the 30-year half-cent gross sales tax accepted by voters in November 2000.
When the 2018 examine got here again to the VTA Board in 2019, I used to be not on the board. The VTA Board voted to proceed with the extension of the challenge, regardless of opposition from a number of the extra fiscally minded board members, reminiscent of former Mountain View Mayor John McAlister. The unique price estimate was $377 million. It now stands at $599.6 million — a 60% improve.
Many articles have been written in regards to the lack of VTA ridership and the fee to function mild rail versus buses. What we actually have to ask, although, is that if this challenge will enhance visitors congestion on this well-traveled expressway or will it flip the commute right into a nightmare? What the general public is just not conscious of is that in an effort to assemble this 2.3-mile extension, Capitol Expressway will lose one lane of visitors in every path.
Let’s examine the variety of folks at the moment being moved on the prevailing two visitors lanes (that can be misplaced) to the projected ridership anticipated to make use of new mild rail stations. Based on the report performed in 2018, the brand new stations are projected to have 2,980 each day passenger boardings in 2023 and 4,534 each day passenger boardings by 2043.
Gentle Rail solely operates at a most of 18 hours per day and has the potential to maneuver, at greatest, 4,534 passengers all day. Alternatively, in line with revealed experiences from planning specialists, the theoretical most saturation move charge per lane is 1,900 vehicles per hour. So if we solely depend the folks moved through the eight regular commute hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and three p.m. to 7 p.m., we are able to transfer 15,200 vehicles. If every automobile had just one passenger, we at the moment transfer roughly 10,600 extra commuters over the course of eight hours than the brand new extension can transfer all day. As well as, commuter lanes can be found 24 hours a day. VTA’s personal visitors examine admits journey time alongside the proposed 2.3-mile hall extension will improve from roughly 5.53 to eight.28 minutes, turning this tough commute right into a nightmare.
What's much more puzzling is that the VTA Board in 2018 voted to desert the Almaden Valley extension from Ohlone-Chynoweth due to price versus ridership. The Board voted to take action as a result of it was less expensive and quicker to run a bus route.
This politically charged extension won't ever exceed transferring extra folks than the 2 visitors lanes it takes away. This Capitol Expressway Gentle Rail Challenge may even waste hundreds of thousands of tax dollars and make life depressing for the commuters dwelling in Evergreen Valley and South San Jose. VTA should put a cease to this challenge and search for “options that can transfer us”.
Johnny Khamis, a former San Jose metropolis councilman, is a District 1 candidate for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.