Jun 22, 2008

Dumbarton Corridor questions challenge Regional Rail vision

Guest Opinion

By Yoriko Kishimoto

The story on the fight over funding for Dumbarton Rail ("Dumbarton rail faces financial fight," Sunday, June 15) highlights the stark trade-offs for our regional rail future in the Bay Area.

Four years ago, on March 2, 2004, voters passed Regional Measure 2 (RM2), raising the toll on the seven state-owned toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area by $1. This extra dollar is "to fund various transportation projects within the region that have been determined to reduce congestion or to make improvements to travel in the toll bridge corridors."

I am a member of the Dumbarton Rail Policy Advisory Committee as well as of the VTA Board of Directors, but I am also a resident and taxpayer interested in cost-effective and comprehensive transit planning for the Bay Area and California. In this day of almost $5 per gallon gasoline prices and climate change crisis, we must "seize the day" and move quickly yet thoughtfully toward a more walkable, transit-oriented Bay Area.

Therefore, I was alarmed by the draft proposal by MTC to take money away from the Dumbarton cross-Bay corridor and allocate it to BART to Warm Springs with little assurance of it returning on a timely basis. The toll money is designated for trans-Bay crossing and people are looking for alternative ways to get to work.

I also read the newest Santa Clara County Grand Jury Report questioning the cost-effectiveness of Dumbarton Rail. I have been a strong spokesperson for scrutinizing projects for cost-effectiveness and would support questioning how the dollars for Dumbarton Rail stack up against other uses, including BART to Warm Springs.

BART to Warm Springs by itself is a bridge to nowhere - it becomes meaningful only if we can afford to extend modern rail to San Jose downtown and the airport and around to connect to a modernized Caltrain - while keeping our bus system up and running.

VTA has determined that even with an additional quarter-cent sales tax, on top of the half-cent 2000 Measure A, we do not have the funding to build and operate all the promised projects as we had anticipated.

What to do?

I propose that we all need to think outside the box.

Caltrain is planning to become more BART-like. BART needs billions to upgrade its current system and integrate somehow with the standard-gauged rail systems. The California High Speed Rail bond measure will be on the ballot this November, and if the measure and AB3034 passes, the Bay Area is well positioned to compete for new regional rail funding.

Can we unite behind a regional rail vision to eventually provide effective rail services around the Bay to serve commuters, high-speed rail and freight?

That vision will takes decades to realize. But we can assure that every dollar we spend goes towards that vision. BART to San Jose (and Santa Clara) can proceed, but only if is does not take away funding from other corridors in a zero-sum game.

Caltrain modernizes from inefficient, polluting diesel trains to a lighter, faster train that will better serve our cities and our workers. Finally, for Dumbarton Rail, I would support more express buses in the interim. But the dollars committed to serve the Dumbarton Rail Corridor must stay in the corridor, ready to match any state or federal money on a timely basis.

High-speed rail will allow a great leap forward toward a network of more transit-oriented, walkable California cities. In-fighting to take dollars away from key corridors without building consensus is counter-productive.

To compete for this state funding, our Bay Area must get its act together.

As technology-savvy, environmental leaders, Silicon Valley and San Francisco and the Bay Area must work together to protect our economic engines and our beautiful natural environment. Using toll funding from RM2, MTC led the writing of a first regional rail plan - but there's more work to be done.

Let's take the time to build this consensus.



Yoriko Kishimoto is a Palo Alto Council Member.