Published Friday, March 19, 2004, in the San Jose Business Journal

VTA pulls plug on Caltrain plan

By Andrew F. Hamm

VTA is pushing the day Caltrain runs on electricity into the far
future because it says BART and San Jose light-rail projects are more
important.

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority says it won't have its
$171 million share of the $601 million cost to electrify the Caltrain
line by 2014 as originally planned. Its best-guess now is that money
won't become available until the mid-2020s, according to a priority
list scheduled for release March 19.

"We support Caltrain electrification," says VTA spokeswoman Anne-
Catherine Vinickas. "But the downtown-to-East Valley gives us a true
light-rail system that is truly interconnected. It is necessary if
we are going to get the full value of the light-rail system."

VTA has made the light-rail extension a higher priority than the
$4.11 billion BART to San Jose project, Ms. Vinickas says. VTA is
developing a priority list that it will pass on to the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission for its 25-year regional transportation
plan scheduled to be completed in 2005.

Transportation is the No. 2 issue behind the economy on the list of
concerns for Silicon Valley businesses and their employees, according
to a Bay Area Economic Forum survey.

And Caltrain's joint power authority board is lobbying VTA to make
Caltrain a higher priority, says Caltrain chairman John McLemore.

There are several options available, Mr. McLemore says, including
building the electrification project in phases, electrifying two
instead of four tracks or even borrowing from money expected to be
made available from the California high-speed rail line, if the
bullet train proposal is approved by voters.

"It's a matter of getting VTA to think about anything but BART and
light-rail," Mr. McLemore says. "Everybody understands the financial
strains VTA is under but they've got to start adjusting their
planning ... (VTA's priorities) are just too expensive and we don't
have the money for these projects."

Still, Caltrain's board of directors is scheduled to vote in April
whether it will need to push back the start date for Caltrain
electrification project.

Caltrain is operated by a joint powers agreement between Santa Clara,
San Mateo and San Francisco counties.

While it is far from certain San Mateo and San Francisco counties
will have the money for its share of the electrification project,
Caltrain officials have said they believe the money from those two
counties will be there when needed.

VTA's decision to delay the Caltrain electrification project into
the mid-2020s or later has angered local politicians in northern
Santa Clara County as well as some Caltrain officials and has brought
claims that San Jose is bullying the rest of Santa Clara County.

"(Caltrain electrification) is a proven technology that will reduce
pollution, congestion and allow the trains to run on a tighter
schedule," says Breene Kerr, a Los Altos Hills councilman and an
alternate member of the VTA board of directors. "I think there is a
limited appetite for trophy projects like light rail ... There is
some question in many people's minds about how many will ride light
rail."

Caltrain's switch from diesel to electricity is considered necessary
to increase service from the current service of 40 trains one-way
each day to an estimated 120 trains by 2012.

Electrification allows trains to run faster, smoother, quieter and
with less pollution than diesel-run operations, says Margaret Okuzumi,
executive director of BayRail Alliance <http://bayrailalliance.org>,
a mass transit advocacy group. Also, San Francisco's Trans-Bay
Terminal, scheduled to be built by 2008, requires Caltrain to be
electrified so its trains can enter that indoor facility.

But VTA has come under intense financial pressure in the wake of the
dot-com bust and is scrambling to reset its priorities. That loss of
income, including decreased ridership and a full slate of transit
commitments has put VTA in a financial bind. As a result, the transit
authority has increased mass transit rates, decreased services and
laid off more than 300 workers.

VTA has secured 80 percent of the estimated $4.11 billion cost of
extending BART 16.5 miles from Fremont through San Jose to Santa
Clara. Measure A passed in 2000 commits about $333 million to
construct BART while the state has committed another $725 million.


Andrew F. Hamm covers transportation for the Business Journal.
Reach him at (408) 299-1841.


[BATN: See also:

Morgan Hill pushes VTA for Caltrain electrification
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16946

Palo Alto begs VTA not to blow all funds on BART
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16866

Palo Alto questions VTA's BART "über alles" focus
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16775

VTA focus on SJ BART "über alles" questioned
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16746

Group blasts VTA's "BART at any cost" mindset
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16619

Editorial: Time to pull the plug on SJ BART
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16238

Editorial: Don't waste $170 million on SJ BART studies
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16199

FTA inspectors unable to locate Weapons of Mass BART Funding
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/16126

Letter: Stop sinking money into BART to SJ
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/15960 ]