Unfortunately, large and exotic-sounding transportation projects tend to get far more than their share of attention. As a result, tax funding is often squandered on huge projects instead of being used to advance smaller and more deserving projects.

Take the current situation in San Jose for instance. BATWG recently sent two letters to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA’s) new BART Phase II Steering Committee encouraging it to consider all aspects of the BART Phase II program and indicating a number of important questions of long standing in need of straight answers. Here’s an update:

The last official cost of the VTA’s original twin-bore tunneling option was $4.69 billion, as set forth in the DEIS released in March of 2017. Since the FEIS was released in 2018, the VTA’s cost of first the 43-foot single-bore option and then the 54-foot single bore option has gone from $6.9 billion to $9.1 billion to the current $12.2 billion, an amount that is almost certain to continue to rise.

It is widely believed that the twin-bore tunnel option would end up being $3 to $5 billion less than the five-story high single-bore tunnel option.  Verifying this contention would necessitate a careful and objective re-evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of both options. Unfortunately, in its habitually insular fashion, the VTA has never seen fit to release a long-promised and long-awaited capital and operating cost comparison of the two options. So at this point, no one knows for sure which option would be less troublesome. Current issues:

1. A bonafide cost comparison of the two, together with an updated evaluation of the pros and cons of each, particularly regarding subgrade and other financial risks, is warranted at this time.

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2. The photo shows BART’s Embarcadero Station on a crowded day. BART’s downtown platforms are 35 feet or more in width. No one is certain about whether or not the VTA’s proposed 24-foot platform is wide enough to ensure the safety of the riders in downtown San Jose.
3. Nor is anyone certain why it was necessary to start building a 54-foot tunnel boring machine so early in the design phase.
4.  The large single-bore option was selected to avoid having to build the 900-foot long Downtown      Station by cut-and-cover methods, thereby temporarily disrupting the businesses located at the station to some degree.

Subways last for hundreds if not thousands of years. Construction disruptions last for a few months.  Yet to avoid offending a handful of affected businessmen, the VTA has committed itself to building five miles of deep and relatively inaccessible subway 53-feet in diameter.  Instead of 5 miles of enormous hole far below Santa Clara Avenue, serious consideration should be given to returning to the cheaper twin-bore option, which would be located much closer to street grade. If appropriate, the affected businesses at the Downtown Station could be reimbursed for their temporary business losses.

The sooner these questions are answered to everyone’s satisfaction, the better it will be for everyone.