VTA urges public input in devising routes for 20 shuttles to
start in July
Morgan Hill – The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is proposing scrapping its two Morgan Hill bus routes for smaller shuttles.
An order for 20 new busses, each costing the VTA $180,000, will be ready to roll around Morgan Hill streets in July. The city’s two fixed bus routes, 15 and 16, would be replaced by the new shuttle service following community input on new routes.
The new shuttles will be 28 feet long and hold 25 passengers. The fares for the service would be in line with current Morgan Hill busses, which charge $1.75 for adult one-way tickets and $5.25 for day passes.
The VTA’s “community bus program” is part of an effort by the agency to make all its services more cost-effective. A free two-year pilot program was launched in Los Gatos in 2005 to test the waters of shuttle service. Full-scale service is planned for Los Gatos, Morgan Hill and Gilroy this summer. The VTA Board of Directors could give final approval on the proposed plan this spring. Morgan Hill’s shuttle fleet could grow to 50 in 2008.
“We put Morgan Hill and Gilroy in the lead for the program,” said Bill Capps, service planning manager for VTA. “They’re geographically isolated … so it would work well.”
Community meetings will be held in February in Morgan Hill and Gilroy to gather public input on shuttle routes.
City Councilman Greg Sellers, who represents South County on the VTA’s Board of Directors, said it’s too soon to know if the proposed program would be embraced.
“I don’t want to vote on this unless it’s a great program that the public wants,” Sellers said after a presentation by VTA officials the Jan. 17 city council meeting.
VTA ridership in Morgan Hill has been plummeting for years. Less than 150 people, many of them low-come, students or seniors without cars, ride Morgan Hill’s two weekday routes, not including route 68, which travels on Monterey Road and links Gilroy to Morgan Hill to San Jose. Only two busses operate on Morgan Hill’s two fixed routes, meaning stops are always at least an hour apart.
“From my standpoint it’s a good idea,” said Linda Evaro, transportation director for the Morgan Hill Unified School District, who hopes the shuttles can make quicker pick-ups and drop-offs than the existing busses. “It’s good because kids miss the (school) bus and we can’t always send another one. They’re also smaller and use less fuel.”
Evaro is one of 10 people who were invited to attend the Jan. 17 Morgan Hill City Council Meeting to hear a VTA presentation. The group consists of city council members, city officials and community members. They met Monday at 4pm to discuss possible routes for the shuttle service.
Evaro was excited to hear the smaller busses are more gas efficient than their 40-foot-long cousins.
Councilwoman Marby Lee, a member of the 10-person group, said she’s looking forward to learning more about the community’s transportation needs.
“I’m curious to see what the other stakeholders come up with,” Lee said.
“It will enhance the services that we already have.”
COMMUNITY BUS PUBLIC MEETINGS
The public is urged to attend meetings to give input on the proposed community bus programs for Morgan Hill and Gilroy:
- 4pm, Feb. 6 at Morgan Hill City Hall, 17555 Peak Ave., Morgan Hill.
-
3pm, Feb. 7 at Luigi Aprea Elementary School, 9225 Calle Del Rey, Gilroy.
-
6pm, Feb. 7 at Gilroy City Hall,
7351 Rosanna Street, Gilroy.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or
tb*******@*************es.com.
