The plan is similar to the local transit tax used elsewhere to fund BART, which was worked remarkably well for the region, especially when compared to a city like D.C., where there is no dedicated source of funding. It's unfortunate that the local community rejected the tax, as it seems like just one more example of taxpayers ignoring the vast economic benefits that come with transit.
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amg | 12:24 PM |
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When you think about it, the other BART tax measures worked in parts of the Bay Area without existing direct rail access to San Francisco. But Santa Clara County residents already have that: direct (and at some hours express) commuter rail access up the Peninsula to San Francisco via Caltrain, with a Muni Metro connection from the San Francisco Caltrain terminal onwards to the financial district.
This BART proposal isn't aimed at San Francisco access. It's concerned with connecting East Bay workers with San Jose jobs. Perhaps Santa Clara County residents simply don't want to fund a commuter rail project that would be of benefit to workers living outside of their county, up the East Bay?
Looked at another way, the other tax measures that worked were approved in East Bay Cities wanting access to San Francisco. If the destination in those cases, San Francisco, had been asked to pay for those East Bay extensions, instead of the origin counties, those tax measures probably would have failed like Santa Clara County's has.
Not that East Bay cities would happily pay a second round of taxes for BART access to San Jose. But since BART would effectively begin serving two masters with service to the employment centers of both San Francisco and San Jose, the funding issue can't be thought of in the same San Francisco-centric way as it was for the previous East Bay extensions.
Check out www.sfcityscape.com . To summarize from the site, BART has eyes too big for its stomach. The extention to the Airport cost twice as much as predicted, and with dramatically less riders than predicted. Their numbers often aren't enough to justify light rail--let alone a unique-gage heavy metro. There are dramatically cheaper options on the table that would be just as useful--such as the commuter system Caltrain.
A planned BART extension to San Jose is now on rocky ground, as voters rejected a bid to increase the local sales tax by 0.5% to pay for the project and for county health services. According to