VTA Considers Eliminating 2 Proposed BART Stations in South Bay

Competition for federal funding with cities such as Baltimore and Los Angeles is making Santa Clara County transit officials consider eliminating two of four proposed BART stations in the South Bay, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is currently halfway through building the planned 10-mile, $2.3 billion BART Silicon Valley extension from Fremont to two new stations in the county, Milpitas and Berryessa in San Jose, VTA spokeswoman Bernice Alaniz said.

But the VTA's longer-term, Phase II proposal to extend 6 miles south with four more stations -- three in San Jose and one in Santa Clara, at a cost of $4.7 billion -- is vying for hundreds of millions of dollars with major transit projects throughout the country, Alaniz said.

The contest involves a new set of rules in the New Starts federal program, overseen by the Federal Transit Administration, Alaniz said.

Among 13 other big-money transit projects in the running for New Start's federal funds are Baltimore's $2.6 billion Red Line, Los Angeles' $2.4 billion Westside Subway Extension Section 1 and San Diego's $1.6 billion Mid-Coast Corridor Transit, according to the VTA.

"The competition is now fierce," Alaniz said.

The new reality has forced the VTA to examine alternatives to the four-station BART extension to cut costs and give the project a higher "ranking" -- such as "high" or "medium high" -- to receive U.S. money from the FTA, she said.

"We're looking for a delivery strategy that would qualify us for federal funding."

The Los Angeles project was the only one on the FTA's list to qualify as a "high" priority for funds, while the proposals by Baltimore and San Diego were ranked "medium high," according to the VTA.

The VTA said its Phase II plan for BART has so far garnered only a "medium low" ranking.

The transit agency is now looking at the possibility of building just two South Bay stations, both underground, in downtown San Jose and at Diridon. Along with a storage facility, total cost is estimated at $3.4 billion.

If the VTA's governing board selected the two-station alternative, the FTA would rate it "medium high" and increase the likelihood of additional federal money, according to the VTA.

To bring in more local funds to help cover Phase II's costs, the VTA might consider an additional sales tax, among other opportunities.

Another alternative would be to keep the four-station plan and maintenance yard but relocate the Alum Rock station to 23rd Street in San Jose, thus reducing the amount of expensive tunnel digging, and use an outdoor bridge for BART over U.S. Highway 101. However, that would yield a far more modest savings of $165 million, according to the VTA.

The VTA's staff recommended that the options be considered by the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Working Committee, starting in January, to coincide with updated environmental reports required by state and federal agencies on the proposed Phase II BART extension, the VTA reported.