Issue date: July 21, 1999
The pipe dream of riding BART from Menlo Park to San Francisco went up in smoke last week, just 10 days after the campaign was launched by former Supervisor Tom Huening, now county controller, and Denise de Ville, president of the San Mateo County Economic Development Association.
With virtually no support from supervisors or the established transportation agencies, including BART itself, the plan to run a line from Millbrae to Menlo Park down the Bayshore Freeway right-of-way disappeared in a massive press conference July 13. In its place, Supervisor Mike Nevin and representatives of business and labor unveiled a new initiative, under the Economic Vitality Partnership, which is to debate county transportation issues for a year, then issue formal recommendations.
"We need to build a community consensus on how to address traffic, and consider all the options that are open to us," Mr. Nevin said.
Whether this new "partnership" of business, labor, and government will reach a consensus that has eluded the county for at least 40 years is doubtful. But Mr. Nevin insists that some combination of BART, Caltrain, high-speed rail and possibly a new ferry system could ease the gridlock that plagues county commuters every work day.
With 5 million or more square feet of new office space in the pipeline or already approved and a huge expansion underway at San Francisco International Airport, county officials are necessarily nervous about the prospects of even worse congestion in the next five to 10 years. Ms. de Ville has estimated that more than 15,000 daily auto trips will be added to the commute cycle, many from the East Bay, unless action is taken soon.
Clearly, Mr. Nevin and most supervisors see a larger role for BART in the county's transportation network, despite its high cost and incompatibility with Caltrain. That may be good policy in the long run, but for the next five to 10 years Caltrain clearly is the best choice, and value, to move commuters up and down the Peninsula.
BART's links to San Francisco and the East Bay, and its potential to "ring the Bay," give it long-term appeal. But spending that much money -- $200 million a mile in 1999 dollars for the SFO link -- doesn't make sense now.
In the next year state initiatives easing financing for transportation projects and high-speed rail from Southern California could change the outlook for transportation in the county. In the meantime, Caltrain is the mode that can deliver the most service soonest at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers.
© 1999 The Almanac. All Rights Reserved.