Passenger Trains > VTA Almaden Branch Facing Closure?

The Santa Clara(CA) Valley Transportation Authority 1.1 mile Almaden Branch(partly built on an old SP line) is apparently in serious danger of becoming the first modern(built post-1980) light rail line in North America to face closure as detailed in a recent San Jose Mercury-News column reproduced below. Our own little "Toonerville Trolley" is in a nice setting with the abandoned USAF radar station on 3486' Mt. Umunhum looming over the area but those semi-rural surroundings seem to be about the only thing going for the branch(photos date from July 2005). The grim details:

http://www.mercurynews.com/scottherhold/ci_12595290?nclick_check=1
A LITTLE RAIL LINE IN JEOPARDY
By Scott Herhold
Mercury News Columnist

Posted: 06/15/2009 07:00:00 PM PDT

The train that runs on the Almaden branch line of the light rail system, sometimes known as the Almaden Shuttle, arrives at the Almaden station before turning around to go to the Ohlone/Chynoweth stop. The line runs 1.1 miles, but because it has very few riders -- an average of only about 500 per day-- VTA is exploring ending the shuttle.

In Barbara Cooney's wonderful children's book, "The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree," a father returns to his Appalachian home from World War I aboard the "Tweetsie Train," a short railroad line named for the tweet of its engine whistle.

When my kids were small, we enjoyed our own "Tweetsie Train," the 1.1-mile Almaden branch of Santa Clara County's light rail system. It had the great virtue of stopping near two meccas for children: Oakridge Mall and Golfland miniature golf course.

So when I read recently that several of the scenarios in a Valley Transportation Authority light rail study call for ending the two-stop Almaden shuttle, I felt a pang: It would abolish a small piece of my kids' childhood.

It would also have symbolic significance in transit circles. According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers, it would be the first light-rail line built in the modern era (post-1980) to be abandoned.

Which is not to say it should never happen. Even more than the light rail system as a whole, the Almaden branch line has notoriously poor ridership, an average of just more than 500 a day. With 67 round trips daily, that means the line averages four passengers on each one-way run.

And you may have read that the VTA is planning on fare hikes and service reductions to close a $10.1 million budget deficit that could get even worse next year.

In this atmosphere, the Almaden shuttle, which takes four
minutes to run between the Ohlone-Chynoweth station in the north and the Almaden station in the south, is like a toy railroad without the glitz of a Disneyland monorail.

COSTS

The VTA people say it costs $505,000 a year to pay the drivers and provide power for the Almaden line. But that's only part of the cost; it doesn't include maintenance, security, insurance or depreciation.

To check out the situation, I spent a half-hour riding the shuttle one recent afternoon. It was mostly empty, though we had a brief moment of excitement when eight people — two couples, three teens and an old man — got on at Oakridge station.

The problem with the shuttle reflects the problems with light rail generally. The VTA hoped it would help create "transit villages" — like the apartments near Lake Almaden — but the route is too slow to get many people out of their cars.

During last year's BART sales-tax campaign, opponents lambasted the VTA for running the "least efficient" light rail system in the country. The farebox recovery, the percentage of costs recouped by fares, is only around 13 percent. San Jose doesn't have the central destinations or the transit-consciousness of the more successful Portland and San Diego systems.

WEIGHING OPTIONS

Michael Burns, chief of the transit agency, says any decision about the Almaden shuttle will have to be weighed carefully. He points out the number 13 bus line duplicates the run between the Almaden and Ohlone stations.

"I don't have strong feelings on the shuttle," he told me by e-mail. "But requiring a transfer for a two-station shuttle, and the interference with the Santa Teresa service (the main light rail line), are clearly not ideal."

Now, there are still options to save a piece of the shuttle. Kevin Connolly, VTA's transportation planning manager, told me it might be possible to keep the Almaden line operating on weekends for riders going to the mall.

To me, that's better than nothing. After all, this is historic right of way. Before the corridor became part of light rail, Southern Pacific railroad tracks here transported sandstone from a quarry in Almaden to build Stanford University.

A weekend shuttle would keep tradition alive. It may not be worth the price, but who knows? Maybe someday I'll read Barbara Cooney's book to my grandchildren and take them on San Jose's Tweetsie Train.

Contact Scott Herhold at sherhold@mercurynews.com or 408-275-0917

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If Federal money was used to build this line there may be an obligation to pay back all that Federal money. Tune in later!!

I've used it on some occasions to visit the CSAA office near the mall. There are a number of AAA offices that can be reached by light rail; the Auto Club of So. Cal. in Pasadena (Gold Line), San Diego (Orange Line), Sacramento (Folsom Line/Power Inn Rd., bit of a hike), Downtown San Francisco ("F" Line or Muni Metro)

For a few years, in the late 90s and early 00s, I worked in Sunnyvale but I lived in Madera, just north of Fresno. I commuted back and forth from Madera to San Jose on Amtrak and used the VTA light rail to get to work (I rented a room near the Curtner station on the Santa Teresa line). Often, after work, I would go to Oakridge Mall, transferring to this line to get there. While I hate to see it disappear, I also understand why. People living at the end of the line never embraced it, even at a time when the rest of the system was doing reasonably well. Everyone familiar with that area of San Jose knows that the automobile is king along Blossom Hill Road and Almaden Expressway. Even people living near stations on this line who use light rail to get to jobs in north San Jose or Sunnyvale often found it easier to drive a short distance to a park and ride lot on the Santa Teresa line to catch a train.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/09 22:16 by warren49.

warren49 Wrote:
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> Often, after work, I would go to Oakridge Mall,
> transferring to this line to get there.

Unfortunately, on any of those given days, your roundtrip would represent about 0.4% of the line's daily ridership.

To better match seating capacity with demand maybe we should consider transferring across town from Kelly Park to the shuttle San Jose Railroads Birney #143. Seats 28, IIRC. Would we have to do the unthinkable and equip it with a pantograph, though?

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From the article:

"The problem with the shuttle reflects the problems with light rail generally. The VTA hoped it would help create "transit villages" — like the apartments near Lake Almaden — but the route is too slow to get many people out of their cars."

The reference to slow doesn't refer to the Almaden line, but the whole system. The main VTA light rail line runs from South San Jose, which is mostly residential, to North San Jose, where the jobs are, via downtown. It's the "via downtown", where there isn't much of anything, that causes the problem. If downtown was served by a feeder line like the Almaden line, and the main line ran along the Guadalupe River through the airport to North San Jose, the ridership numbers would look a whole lot different from the beginning of the system. Most people from the Almaden Valley would rather take the traffic jams on 87 to the slow crawl through downtown that include close encounters with some of San Jose's more interesting characters.

I hope Carol Voss sees this thread, as she can say a lot more about this than I can.

westcoaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the article:
>
> "The problem with the shuttle reflects the
> problems with light rail generally. The VTA hoped
> it would help create "transit villages" — like
> the apartments near Lake Almaden — but the route
> is too slow to get many people out of their
> cars."
>
> The reference to slow doesn't refer to the Almaden
> line, but the whole system. The main VTA light
> rail line runs from South San Jose, which is
> mostly residential, to North San Jose, where the
> jobs are, via downtown. It's the "via downtown",
> where there isn't much of anything, that causes
> the problem. If downtown was served by a feeder
> line like the Almaden line, and the main line ran
> along the Guadalupe River through the airport to
> North San Jose, the ridership numbers would look a
> whole lot different from the beginning of the
> system. Most people from the Almaden Valley would
> rather take the traffic jams on 87 to the slow
> crawl through downtown that include close
> encounters with some of San Jose's more
> interesting characters.
>
> I hope Carol Voss sees this thread, as she can say
> a lot more about this than I can.

I don't know that I can say anymore than has been said already in the responses above except to agree that the slow crawl through downtown San Jose puts a lot of people off from riding from south San Jose to the jobs in the north (or the jobs that used to be there!!) My medical center Santa Teresa is located hardby the light rail station and when it opened in I forget the year we immediately instituted shuttle buses for all the employees and patients that we anticipated would use the light rail to come to us. We were underwhelmed and I understand are still underwhelmed with the lack of utilization of the light rail. Some of my colleagues who lived near the medical center said that its greatest use was when they ventured into downtown San Jose at night for theater performances or Sharks games and avoided the parking hassles.
I lived in Evergreen and my commute to Santa Teresa in my car was about 20 minutes max, depending on how I hit the stoplights on Capitol Expwy and Cottle Rd. After the light rail was opened, I tried an experiment to see how long it would take me to get to work-----an hour and a half if I made all the proper connections, starting with a bus 2 blocks from my house. So much for public transit in San Jose.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

westcoaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the article:
>
> "The problem with the shuttle reflects the
> problems with light rail generally. The VTA hoped
> it would help create "transit villages" — like
> the apartments near Lake Almaden — but the route
> is too slow to get many people out of their
> cars."
>
> The reference to slow doesn't refer to the Almaden
> line, but the whole system. The main VTA light
> rail line runs from South San Jose, which is
> mostly residential, to North San Jose, where the
> jobs are, via downtown. It's the "via downtown",
> where there isn't much of anything, that causes
> the problem. If downtown was served by a feeder
> line like the Almaden line, and the main line ran
> along the Guadalupe River through the airport to
> North San Jose, the ridership numbers would look a
> whole lot different from the beginning of the
> system. Most people from the Almaden Valley would
> rather take the traffic jams on 87 to the slow
> crawl through downtown that include close
> encounters with some of San Jose's more
> interesting characters.
>
> I hope Carol Voss sees this thread, as she can say
> a lot more about this than I can.


I lived in San Jose during the years of planning and construction of the first part of the Santa Teresa line. While bypassing downtown had supporters, the political power in San Jose at that time was the mayor, who lived downtown (I will add the caveat that there were a couple of mayors involved with the planning and construction, so the placement of the line was a decision that involved several people and groups....it's just that the mayor most associated with the downtown revitalization lived there). The line ended up just a block or so from his home, as it moves along north 1st St. I supported that mayor, but I thought that going through downtown with the main line, as well as not serving the airport, was a mistake. I still believe that. I have always believed that a downtown spur should have been created that connected with the mainline both south and north of downtown, creating a connection from the airport to both the residential south San Jose and to the downtown hotels/convention center.

Of course, the money was a problem and what we have is a compromise. I would have felt better about it had the VTA made an airport line part of the overall plan. For those who are not familiar with San Jose, it's airport is virtually downtown. The only reason San Jose does not have sky scraper buildings is because they would violate FAA height restrictions, as the normal approach to the airport is over downtown. The fact that the airport, a major terminal (although smaller than SF or Oakland, it still handles hundreds of flights per day) is not connected to either the hotels, the residential neighborhoods, or to the industrialized north, via the area's public rail system, which goes to all of those places, is just silly.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/09 09:47 by warren49.

warren49 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> westcoaster Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > From the article:
> .
> The only reason San Jose does not have sky
> scraper buildings is because they would violate
> FAA height restrictions, as the normal approach to
> the airport is over downtown. The fact that the
> airport, a major terminal (although smaller than
> SF or Oakland, it still handles hundreds of
> flights per day) is not connected to either the
> hotels or to the residential neighborhoods via the
> area's public rail system is just silly.


Amen to all of the above. One of the most hilarious stories about the San Jose airport and the flight path directly over downtown San Jose (following Almaden Avenue to be exact) has to do with Victor Borge. He was performing one night at the Center for the Performing Arts on the corner of San Carlos and Almaden, directly under the flight path. When the first plane flew over he paused in his performance and looked quizzically upwards in classic Borge style. The second plane flew over and he did a "double take", and when the third came over, he stopped and turned to the audience and said "I certainly hope it's one of ours!!"--------the whole place went crazy with howls of laughter.
And yes, mayor Tom McEnery living on Avery street off north First had "something" to do with the route. Also, if you want another funny story, ask MDO about his confrontation with the VTA powers that be that wanted to cross the SP line at grade on north First. When you drive that underpass, think of MDO who basically told VTA to etc. etc. etc. It delayed the whole project more than a year and of course added a tad to the overall cost. VTA acted as if that SP line had just appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden and oh my, we never thought we couldn't cross it at grade and yadayadayada----jeez.
That line has been there since way before I was born and my parents had to drive across it to get to the hospital the night I was born. :-)
C.
PS---I don't have to add here that the head honcho of the light rail project involved in all of this now has a train station named for him in San Jose. :-)

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

CarolVoss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Amen to all of the above. One of the most
> hilarious stories about the San Jose airport and
> the flight path directly over downtown San Jose
> (following Almaden Avenue to be exact) has to do
> with Victor Borge. He was performing one night at
> the Center for the Performing Arts on the corner
> of San Carlos and Almaden, directly under the
> flight path. When the first plane flew over he
> paused in his performance and looked quizzically
> upwards in classic Borge style. The second plane
> flew over and he did a "double take", and when the
> third came over, he stopped and turned to the
> audience and said "I certainly hope it's one of
> ours!!"--------the whole place went crazy with
> howls of laughter.
> And yes, mayor Tom McEnery living on Avery street
> off north First had "something" to do with the
> route. Also, if you want another funny story, ask
> MDO about his confrontation with the VTA powers
> that be that wanted to cross the SP line at grade
> on north First. When you drive that underpass,
> think of MDO who basically told VTA to etc. etc.
> etc. It delayed the whole project more than a
> year and of course added a tad to the overall
> cost. VTA acted as if that SP line had just
> appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden and oh my,
> we never thought we couldn't cross it at grade and
> yadayadayada----jeez.
> That line has been there since way before I was
> born and my parents had to drive across it to get
> to the hospital the night I was born. :-)
> C.
> PS---I don't have to add here that the head honcho
> of the light rail project involved in all of this
> now has a train station named for him in San Jose.
> :-)


In 1983 and 1984, I tried my hand at sales (makes me chuckle, to this day, when I think about that). I had a variety of electronics related products, but the major product was environmental chambers for computer testing. I had met a couple of guys who were refrigeration engineers and they had already constructed a handful of these chambers for computer companies in the area. The units were used to test computers in various environmental conditions.

Anyway, I maintained an office in their building, which paralleled the SP line at that very place. Our driveway was immediately south of the crossing. I remember the battle very well, with the VTA insisting that SP had to figure out how they were going to get their trains across the yet unbuilt light rail line. The area is much different these days, but even a quick glance of the VTA tracks going under the rail line seems to confirm the fact that it was VTA who had to figure out, and pay for, the solution.

Back in the 20th Century, there was rail transit publication (probably the New Electric Railway Journal, but it could have been Traction Yearbook) that did an annual "rating the rails" survey. San Jose/VTA usually received one of the lowest ratings, and I think this was before the line to Mountain View opened. When I ride VTA, it's as a railfan, not a commuter, so I don't mind the "long way around Robin Hood's barn" routing of the Mountain View line, but it does seem that one could cover the distance in an automobile quite a bit faster unless traffic gets totally clobbered at rush hour. Then we have the Vasona Line, which, when I rode it, had half-hour headways during midday--not good in a country where impatience is a national characteristic. One feature of VTA, which, alas, has been reduced to a rare, seasonal operation is the downtown vintage streetcar operation. I still remember one late afternoon in San Jose; I was riding #73 (a near duplicate of a Pacific Electric 160-class car!), and three or four men, who appeared to be from South of the Border, got on near Civic Center and rode downtown. They weren't looking for an historical experience, they wanted to shop at a downtown store that specialized in Mexican merchandise. Here was a streetcar doing what it had been designed to do back in 1913, providing urban transportation, as well as a nostalgia trip.

I live in the Almaden Valley, about a mile from the south end of the shuttle. It has been noted that the number 13 bus runs parallel to the LR shuttle line and goes deeper into the valley. The suggestion that the line run weekends only, makes sense.

We use VTA light rail on occasion, but generally board at Ohlone-Chynowyth because shuttle connections with the main line are sometimes iffy.

The original route plan called for the line to go to the airport (ie Portland, OR) but local cabs, shuttle companies etc. threatened to hold the project up in court so transit planners caved-too bad.

When the line was planned, the Mountain View line was routed right in he middle of the Lockheed-Sunnyvale complex where roughly 20,000 people worked. The merger with Martin resulted in a lot of those jobs leaving the Valley and many of the buildings have been demolished.

With the State of California playing financial Russian roulette with a round in every barrel, there will be no fixes for any transit problems in this state.

Hal Lewis

J-1Hudson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The original route plan called for the line to go
> to the airport (ie Portland, OR) but local cabs,
> shuttle companies etc. threatened to hold the
> project up in court so transit planners caved-too
> bad.

Yup, too bad. Trying to give myself time to catch a departing flight using Light Rail + Airport Flyer #10 is a major hassle. Even though SFO is farther away, I prefer to fly out of there because the Caltrain/BART connection or the SamTrans KX bus is far more convenient.

San Francisco overcame the cab/shuttle/SFO Airporter lobby, so I can't help but feel that San Jose is forever a minor league city, until proven otherwise.