O n May 4th, 2017 at 5:30 PM, the VTA Board of Directors will vote on a decision to remove VTA bus route 181 from the list of VTA bus options. The vote will be held at the Board of Directors Meeting (link to meeting agenda) at the County Government Center located at, 70 West Hedding Street San Jose, CA 95110 (Google Maps Link). Please attend the meeting and let the VTA Board of Directors know how you feel about the changes.

VTA’s decision to remove bus route 181 is a betrayal of the voters who supported the VTA-proposed Measure B on November 8th (link to Measure B explanation). Measure B is supposed to bring over $6 billion by increasing the countywide tax by half-cent for 30 years. Out of the $6 billion, $500 million was promised to be spent on supporting under served areas and increasing bus frequency. Which should mean increasing routes and improving the rider experience. And, not ideas to remove bus routes used by hundreds of thousands of riders per year. It is frustrating to see the VTA administration to request additional funding to improve and do not follow through on their promises.

According to data from VTA’s Open Data Portal (https://goo.gl/7RHmMO), in 2016, there were over 318,000 riders who rode VTA bus route 181. Over 96,000 riders entered the bus at the stop located at the Fremont Bart Station. And, over 65,000 of the riders exited the bus at the 2nd & Santa Clara stop in San Jose, Ca. The remaining 250,000 plus riders exited the bus at its nine other stops throughout Fremont and San Jose, four of which are in San Jose. Removing the VTA bus route 181 will displace over 100,000 riders who work in San Jose. In today’s economy, it is unwise to introduce changes that negatively affects accessibility to employment and education.

At San Jose State University, there are over 1,300 students and employees who use line 181 to commute to and from campus daily. That means over 1,300 students and employees will be forced to find other methods of commuting to the campus in downtown San Jose. They are just one subset of over 300,000 riders who rely on the VTA Bus Line 181.

The Berryessa Bart station in San Jose is planned to come on-line at the end of 2017. The new station will allow commuters to take the BART from Fremont to San Jose. But, the Berryessa Station is a significant distance from downtown San Jose. Yes, the VTA has announced a plan to replace the current Dash 500 shuttle service with Rapid 500 (link to Rapid 500 details) that will operate 7 days a week and connect the Berryessa Bart Station to Downtown San Jose. It is supposed to replace the service provided by 181 express, but commuters are still required to pay for BART fees which are not covered by Eco Passes issued by employers and universities. Depending on where you are commuting from, the BART fees could add an additional $2,500 or more per year for commuters who use BART to travel to and from work in San Jose. $2,500 is a significant burden upon employees and students who are on limited budgets.

Costs are not the only concerns regarding the BART system. The BART system is not safe. I have chatted several people who regularly use BART to commute to work and all of them mentioned that safety was their biggest concern, regardless of traveling during peak hours or later at night. On the night of April 21st, there were a string of robberies at the Oakland Coliseum Station where dozens of juveniles stormed the trains and demanded bags and phones from all passengers. Although this incident occurred at the Oakland Coliseum Station, it could happen anywhere else, including the new Berryessa Station in San Jose.

The reporters at SFGATE (link to source SFGATE) received the following comment from Alicia Trost, a BART spokeswoman, “Robberies committed by small groups of people who snatch valuables from riders when trains stop at stations then dash off just before the train departs have been known to happen on BART,” in response to the circumstances of the incident. If BART the administration was already aware of these robberies and their frequency, why do we not have sufficient security personnel at each station to deter such events? A robbery is the last thing any rider should worry about when returning from school or work.

At the meeting on Thursday, May 4th at 5:30 PM, the VTA Board of Directors will review the changes and proposals one more time before they cast their votes and finalize the plans. If you disagree, be sure to attend the meeting and voice your opinions. The vote will be held at the Board of Directors Meeting (link to meeting agenda) at the County Government Center located at, 70 West Hedding Street San Jose, CA 95110 (Google Maps Link).

Link to Board of Directors meeting agenda: https://goo.gl/B2csRn

Link to VTA Open Data Portal: https://goo.gl/Y3bCqO

Link to Datasheet Explaining VTA Open Data Portal: https://goo.gl/KRf9Ju