South County commuters will be moderately affected by the proposed changes to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s bus route system, which is reviewed every 10 years for a scratch redesign.
“Both ridership and coverage services are going up in Morgan Hill,” according to VTA planner Adam Burger. “The 68 is one of our better routes that we’d love to keep.”
Route 68, which has pickups as far south as Gilroy through Morgan Hill and goes north to downtown San Jose to the Diridon Transit Center, is one of the “high performers” and will see only a “small frequency change” under the proposed redesign. That minor change will come with less runs in the middle of the day since there is a lower demand at those times, Burger explained.
The popular route, which takes in 5,095 boardings on an average weekday, will be a “15-minute service” in peak morning and evening hours, but reduce to a “30-minute mid-day service” based on ridership statistics. The 68 has 2,800 boardings on Saturday and 3,200 on Sunday.
“One of the things you will see in this new network compared to the current one is the number of 15-minute frequency routes increases,” Burger said. “When you get to 15-minute or better routes, that really makes transit a viable option for travelers. That’s why 15-minute peak service in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and South County is important.”
Route 16, which is used mostly by students (90 percent) from the local high school and middle school, will continue to operate hourly in the morning and evening hours, but there will be no service in the middle of the day.
“We will continue to service the route around school bell times when there’s a high demand for it, but not operate later in the evening or later in the morning when there is much less demand,” Burger said. “We will focus on the bell times.”
That was not always the case, according to Morgan Hill City councilman Larry Carr, South County’s representative on the VTA board of directors. Carr said the original redesign plan called for the elimination of the 16 line, but the draft was changed to include the route at the urging of Carr and other directors.
“We worked hard with the VTA staff to understand (South County’s) needs,” said Carr, who was part of the VTA board’s unanimous vote Jan. 5 to allow staff to introduce the new transit system draft to the public for review before finalizing it in April. “The draft last night was different than the one at a workshop in December that I voted against.”
A new express route, being called Route 185, is part of the new plans and will head from Gilroy all the way up to the North Bayshore area of Mountain View, close to the Google building. It will start with three northbound trips in the morning and three southbound trips in the evening. That route started up Jan. 3.
The redesign will also add an additional trip to its existing 168 express route, which goes from Gilroy up to downtown San Jose. It has three stops in Morgan Hill and takes between 30 to 43 minutes depending on when a commuter boards the bus. That change will go into effect in January, if approved. There are currently 10 express runs, which head north in the morning and south in the evening based on the ridership demand. Starting Jan. 3, there will be seven northbound trips every weekday morning and seven southbound trips every weekday evening. On an average weekday, nine people board in Morgan Hill.
VTA makes minor tweaks to its transit system every two years with a scratch redesign such as this coming every 10 years. Burger said the two goals of the major overhaul are to increase transit ridership overall and improve cost effectiveness as an agency. The current system focuses 70 percent on ridership and 30 percent on land area coverage. The proposed redesign is shifting focus to 85 percent ridership and 15 percent coverage, according to Burger.
“System-wide, we are proposing a lot more frequent routes, more rapid routes, wider stops, an increase in the amount of light rail service provided and less service in other low ridership areas,” Burger said.
“We will never be able to meet everyone’s needs,” added Carr of the VTA system. “The model today is geared much more toward ridership as opposed to coverage.”
Over the past year, VTA staff has hosted a series of public meetings, workshops and presentations to help sculpt the scratch redesign.
“Based on that feedback, we put the design together,” said Stacey Hendler Ross, a VTA media spokesperson. “We want to take that draft back to the community and say, ‘Hey, did we get it right?’”
VTA staff gained approval to take that next step from its board Jan. 5.
A public meeting is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Gilroy Library on Sixth Street and another from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Southside Community Center in San Jose. The draft will also be available on the VTA website after Jan. 5.
VTA staff will then make any additional changes based on the new community input and bring the final scratch redesign to its board of directors in April for final approval.
Paratransit services remain vital
Carr stressed that the next priority with the VTA transit system overhaul is maintaining adequate paratransit services for senior citizens.
“Those paratransit services are very important,” said Carr, who explained that paratransit is funded through the federal government and based on where the fixed bus lines are located. “As we cut service, it means we also cut the ability to have paratransit in that area.”
VTA provides the door-to-door service at “a greatly reduced cost” for seniors who rely on the mode of transportation to get to doctor’s appointments, frequent the senior centers, go grocery shopping and other essentials.
“We need to find ways to still have paratransit outside of those restrictions based on federal funding,” Carr said. “It may mean the difference between going to the doctor and not going to the doctor.”
