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Peninsula residents in Santa Clara County next month will vote on a ballot measure that seeks a 30-year sales tax increase of 1/8 of a cent to operate a planned 16.1-mile BART extension from Fremont through Milpitas, and San Jose to Santa Clara. On the surface, a BART project in the heart of the South Bay may not appear to be a direct boon to the Peninsula, where Caltrain reigns as king of the rail commute. But we believe a BART extension will spell some needed traffic relief for this region as well as the entire Bay Area, and for that main reason endorse Measure B.
When the BART line is completed - the target year is 2017 - all cities surrounding San Francisco Bay will be connected by rail service, which should go a long way toward enticing more people out of their cars. Residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties who need to get to the other side of the Bay could take Caltrain to the new Santa Clara or San Jose BART stations and continue their journey to high-tech jobs in Milpitas and Fremont or to an A's game in Oakland. For a change of pace, they could return by taking BART into San Francisco or Millbrae and switching to Caltrain. It's true, as some critics have pointed out, that switching between BART and Caltrain, or between San Jose's light-rail trolleys and BART, will be a little inconvenient. Unfortunately, there's not much that can be done about that today because the dye was cast more than 30 years ago when San Mateo and Santa Clara counties opted not to pay into a Bay-encircling BART system. But even though our rail transportation service will never be as efficient as the subway systems in Europe or on the East Coast, it still should provide commuters with a viable alternative to driving alone. Even if Measure B proponents are overly optimistic in projecting that the extension will add almost 100,000 BART rides per weekday, we think even half that amount will make a noticeable dent on the freeways. As is the case with all other funding measures on local and state ballots this fall, B's timing isn't helped by the current economic crisis, but we don't think an extra 1/8 of a cent sales tax is going to make or break personal banking accounts. Santa Clara County voters showed they want BART by approving Measure A in 2000, which is paying for the design and construction of the extension. The sales tax won't rise until the federal government kicks in its share to finance the project - the state recently agreed to foot its committed amount - and that probably won't happen for at least one or two more years. By then, we hope, this crisis will be behind us. As for Caltrain, the Joint Powers Board that runs it has not come out against the project. That suggests the board doesn't fear any federal funds allotted to BART would derail Caltrain's proposed electrified high-speed express service. Completing a Bay rail loop is long overdue, and we urge readers to launch it by voting yes on Measure B. Daily News http://paloaltodailynews.ca.newsmemory.com/ee/paloaltodailynews/index.php
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