Spring Break
VTA bus routes to change
Mark Powell
Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: News
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Santa Clara County's bus system faces a major shake-up if a Valley Transportation Authority proposal is passed this August, VTA officials said Thursday.
According to the VTA's Comprehensive Operations Analysis, some bus routes currently fall well bellow the VTA's "boardings per revenue hour," meaning that some routes don't meet the 33-riders-per-hour standard.
The plan to considerably re-route the county's bus system was formally presented to the VTA board of directors for the first time on Thursday during a public meeting.
"With any big production, you need to have sneak previews," VTA planning manager Kevin Connolly said to a crowd of about 100 VTA officials, operators and members of the public.
Connolly and Transportation Management and Design, Inc. representative Russell Chisholm administered a multimedia slide presentation at the county board of supervisors' chambers that outlined proposed changes to many VTA bus routes.
"In some cases, we're recommending that routes be consolidated," Chisholm said. "In other cases, we're not able to identify solutions for poor performance."
Chisholm called selecting candidates for consolidation or deletion "the hard part" in the VTA's "Proposed Service Operating Plan."
Routes facing deletion include buses 37, 38, 44, 59 and 76 - all of which carry less than half the VTA's recommended number of riders per hour, according to the Comprehensive Operations Analysis.
The proposal also calls for bus numbers 36, 39, 58, 67 and 85 to be consolidated with other routes, as the five existing routes carry no more than about 23 riders per hour.
Peter Gambrill, a San Jose State University junior majoring in English, said that he would be in favor of eliminating some routes because of poor ridership.
"Well, a lot of the buses seem empty," said Gambrill, who said he uses the VTA buses and light rail to get around San Jose. "There are some commuter buses that have people on them, but a lot the buses just seem like a waste of gas."
According to the VTA's Comprehensive Operations Analysis, some bus routes currently fall well bellow the VTA's "boardings per revenue hour," meaning that some routes don't meet the 33-riders-per-hour standard.
The plan to considerably re-route the county's bus system was formally presented to the VTA board of directors for the first time on Thursday during a public meeting.
"With any big production, you need to have sneak previews," VTA planning manager Kevin Connolly said to a crowd of about 100 VTA officials, operators and members of the public.
Connolly and Transportation Management and Design, Inc. representative Russell Chisholm administered a multimedia slide presentation at the county board of supervisors' chambers that outlined proposed changes to many VTA bus routes.
"In some cases, we're recommending that routes be consolidated," Chisholm said. "In other cases, we're not able to identify solutions for poor performance."
Chisholm called selecting candidates for consolidation or deletion "the hard part" in the VTA's "Proposed Service Operating Plan."
Routes facing deletion include buses 37, 38, 44, 59 and 76 - all of which carry less than half the VTA's recommended number of riders per hour, according to the Comprehensive Operations Analysis.
The proposal also calls for bus numbers 36, 39, 58, 67 and 85 to be consolidated with other routes, as the five existing routes carry no more than about 23 riders per hour.
Peter Gambrill, a San Jose State University junior majoring in English, said that he would be in favor of eliminating some routes because of poor ridership.
"Well, a lot of the buses seem empty," said Gambrill, who said he uses the VTA buses and light rail to get around San Jose. "There are some commuter buses that have people on them, but a lot the buses just seem like a waste of gas."
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