Strapped for cash and faced with rapidly declining ridership, the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is reorganizing its service in the hopes of stopping the bleeding.
[Updated 5/8/2017]
Gary Richards reports from the South Bay Area:
Faced with a $21.4 *million operating shortfall and a staggering loss of riders, the Valley Transportation Authority on Thursday is expected to approve major changes to its bus and light rail routes, focusing on more service on San Jose’s east side and downtown and reducing its reach in outlying areas like Gilroy and the west valley.
The article includes a rundown of the various causes of VTA's woes, from low gas prices, to delayed transit services, and cannibalization of transit ridership by transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. All those anti-transit forces are succeeding despite a robust economy and the worsening congestion that results.
For more info on the details of the changes to VTA service, see an announcement requesting public comment on the Transit Service Redesign Draft Plan, as released in January 2017, along with previous articles for the Mercury News by Julia Baum in March and Gary Richards in January.
[The story was corrected to state the correct dollar total for the agency's operating shortfall.]
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