VTA seeks public comment on proposed route changes - but it's more than route changes

In a news release this week, VTA is seeking public comment on three bus routes, two community bus routes and one, a new limited bus route that will eventually phase into a new bus rapid transit line (BRT).

However I wanted to comment on Route 11, which is a very limted route to begin with, extending from San Pedro Square to Taylor and 17th and only 20 times a day on weekdays. The plan is to extend the route to Diridon Station.

However, if I recall correctly this route used to go past San Jose Marketplace, home to another Target store, Office Depot, Panera Bread, etc., etc., etc. Now outside of a Limited Stop Bus (304) which only runs on weekdays and only four times a day (rush hour) there is no bus line that runs to the suburban style shopping center.

As Scott Herhold of the San Jose Mercury News mentions in a August 2010 column:

But it is not downtown, no matter what (Redevelopment Director Harry) Mavrogenes says. It is on Coleman Avenue south of Taylor Street, separated from the city center by at least three-quarters of a mile and a hulking overpass.

So although a connection to Diridon Station is an improvement, if you want to get more residents living downtown, and you want those residents to live a car-free or car-lite life you will have to connect the meager downtown retail offerings by transit when they are so spread out and are connected by horrible pedestrian improvements.

 Scott later goes on to ask Harry Mavrogenes how he got to the grand opening of a new business in the San Jose Marketplace:

Then I asked how he'd gotten to the grand opening. He said he had driven from his City Hall office. So we have a downtown location that you have to drive to from your downtown office. Sorry, Harry. Something doesn't compute.

So if were going to build these suburban strips malls in a downtown setting the least we can do is connect them to downtown businesses and residences. Please.


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