Published Wednesday, June 25, 2003, in the Sunnyvale Sun

Riders face an August rate hike; fewer lines in January

By Falguni Bhuta

Though Paul Siegel and his wife own a car, more often than not he's
the one who takes the bus to his work in downtown San Jose. He's been
doing this for 12 years.

Siegel and others dependent on the Valley Transit Authority are
nervous about all the recent cuts in public transportation funding.

He rides either the 22 or the 300 lines that pass through Sunnyvale.
The 22 line is the most used line of all the VTS lines in the county.
It starts in Menlo Park, winds down through Sunnyvale and ends up at
Eastridge in San Jose. The line carries over 23,000 riders daily
representing 16 percent of VTA's total bus ridership.

But line 22 isn't the only one that runs through Sunnyvale. Eighteen
different bus lines and one Light Rail route make approximately 858
bus and Light Rail trips run through Sunnyvale every weekday.

According to a 2000 on-board survey by the VTA about seven percent of
all VTA riders are Sunnyvale residents, says Anne-Catherine Vinickas,
VTA spokeswoman.

Many VTA riders in Santa Clara County fear that VTA service will
revert back to 1981 levels, meaning fewer routes and less frequent
trips for both buses and the light rail.

But part of what's causing VTA's financial problems is a decreasing
number of riders.

Vinickas says there has been a 23 percent drop in VTA ridership in
the last two years due to the high levels of unemployment and the
economic downturn. The VTA is also funded in part by sales tax
revenue in Santa Clara County and people are spending less these
days.

At the VTA's meeting on June 5, the board of directors adopted a 21
percent reduction in service. However, Vinickas says the reduction
was deferred from October 2003 to January 2004.

This will be the third service cut in three consecutive years.
Previous service cuts include a five- percent cut in July 2002 and a
nine percent cut in April of this year.

"We are trying to make the cuts affect as few people as possible,"
Vinickas says.

In August, however, the rates will go up. A single adult ride will
cost $1.50 instead of $1.40, and a single day pass will cost $4.50
instead of $4.00. The majority of VTA riders earn less than $20,000 a
year and 62 percent have no other means of transportation.

Tenth grader Susan Le commutes from her home in San Jose to Fremont
High School in Sunnyvale everyday by Light Rail.

"I think the fare increases are not good because a lot of people are
out of work and can't afford to pay more," Le says.

There is, however, some good news.

The VTA plans to transform line 22 into a Bus Rapid Transit corridor,
which will provide faster, more reliable service. This line will
include queue jump lanes at congested locations, an advanced
communications system, signal prioritization for buses to reduce
delay and more frequent and direct service, says Vinickas.

Sunnyvale Vice Mayor Tim Risch says VTA fares are not out of line
when compared to other transit agencies in the country.

Bus rider Paul Siegel says. "I hope the VTA runs buses frequently
because the more service you provide the more you build ridership."

There are other issues for the VTA to attend to.

Sunnyvale resident Margaret Okuzumi, who is the executive director of
Bay Rail Alliance and a board member of the Transportation and Land
Use Coalition, says the city needs to design public transit stops
that are convenient for bicyclists. She says many VTA stops are
located right on streets that don't have sidewalks.

She also says says the light rail is too slow. "The average speed of
Light Rail is very slow compared to other similar systems in the
U.S.," Okuzumi says. As a result people don't use it as much as they
might.