On Thursday, El Camino Bus Rapid Transit Policy Advisory Board members turned down a move to kill the project outright, and decided instead to bring a proposal for a right-lane pilot back to corridor cities in a roadshow to be completed by next June.
Despite urging by County Supervisor Simitian, whose initial motion was to end the initiative outright except for minor improvements, and by Supervisor Yeager, who wanted to re-purpose the money for bus rapid transit on Stevens Creek, the city council members in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos did not want to give up.
Since the last discussions of BRT, which were quieted in the run-up to the 2016 election in which the Measure B transportation tax passed
* Sunnyvale has been working on a plan for El Camino Real and Council has given direction for a mix of uses with lots of housing
* Mountain View has been adding mixed-use housing developments following the policies in the Precise Plan passed several years ago
* Santa Clara is working on its own plan for El Camino, and earlier in the week approved an 150-unit senior housing project with overwhelming support
* Palo Alto has approved a 50-unit housing/mixed use project on El Camino near Fry’s, the second such project it has approved in about a year.
* Los Altos Council ended its moratorium and set zoning rules for housing on El Camino
As the development and planning has moved forward, bus rides have gotten slower. VTA staff reported at the meeting that 522 Rapid travel time has declined from 75 minutes in 2009 to 97 minutes in 2017.
The concept that will be brought back for consideration to corridor cities is a pilot for a peak-period right-hand bus lane that allowed public buses, private shuttles, and also (maybe) high-occupancy vehicles. A benefit of a right-lane project is that it could also speed up the 22 local bus.
The idea of including carpools has issues including the fact that it’s not clearly legal under state law to convert a general-purpose lane to an HOV lane, and the challenge of enforcement. There are already challenges with enforcement in highway carpool lanes; this could be more challenging on El Camino, with driveways and cross streets where drivers come and go more frequently.
Another question raised with a right-hand pilot is safety for cyclists. Santa Clara council member Teresa O’Neill mentioned that earlier in the week the Council met with the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory committee, and ECR bicycle lanes were discussed favorably; apparently much of the on-street parking on ECR in Santa Clara is underutilized and businesses have alternative space for customers. Mountain View has set a long-term goal for bike lanes on ECR, but currently there are some businesses that don’t have good alternatives for parking,
The right-lane pilot represents a substantial compromise from the center-running dedicated lane, which would have made the Rapid bus time-competitive with driving, but attracted opposition from residents and businesses concerned that the lanes would not get enough use, and would push drivers to quieter side streets. Preliminary analysis by VTA staff suggested that a right-lane project would do much less to speed buses, in part because El Camino has many driveways, and buses will still need to slow for entering/existing cars. Another question is safety. With all the driveways, there will be many drivers that need to pull into and out of the driveways across the bus lane.
If you live or work on or near the El Camino Corridor in Santa Clara County, the road show discussing the potential for a right-lane pilot will be coming to a City Council near you. If city councils want to support the pilot, this recommendation will be brought to the VTA board for a decision.
If you are interested in improving bus service and safety, and the role of transit in supporting mixed-use development on ECR, keep an eye out for the meetings – we’ll keep you posted.
