Bus Rapid Transit Study Session January 17th

[Aileen]

Please direct all inquiries to Julie Lovins
lovi...@pobox.com

Dear Green Mountain View,
I am asking for your help, on behalf of like-minded Mountain View
residents, in persuading our City Council (on January 17) to look
favorably on the concept of Bus Rapid Transit on El Camino Real.

While the formal vote isn't until March or April, the outcome of this
January 17 study session will set the stage in a big way. What they
are being asked to do next week is agree that the project details
should be studied further. There will be plenty of time for them to
weigh in on specific points.

WE DO NOT YET KNOW WHAT TIME THE STUDY SESSION WILL START, CONTRARY TO
ANY INFORMATION YOU MIGHT HAVE RECEIVED FROM THE SIERRA CLUB OR
ELSEWHERE. IT MIGHT WELL BE AROUND 5 P.M. WE WILL SEND OUT ANOTHER
MESSAGE AROUND THE END OF THIS WEEK WITH THE CORRECT TIME.

I hope you will be interested in helping with this by attending the
meeting, at least providing silent support, and potentially speaking
in favor of the proposal from your personal perspective as a

* transit user (or future transit user),

* bicyclist,

* someone who wants cleaner air (there will be relatively fewer cars,
as people switch modes; and we will avoid otherwise inevitably
increasing traffic problems on ECR),

* El Camino Real landowner (property values will go up),

* businessman (so will your business), or

* any other individual with a stake in this process.

Please also forward this message to others who you think would be
supportive.

There are three BRT routes planned for Santa Clara County, replacing
the
522 and 523 express routes, and intersecting in downtown San Jose.
The one that involves Mountain View, the El Camino Real corridor, will
run from the Palo Alto Transit Center to HP Pavilion.

Each city along the corridor is determining whether to allow VTA to
build dedicated lanes for BRT, replacing one of the three lanes of
mixed-flow traffic now running in each direction. This is the main
issue to be taken up in the study session, and so far Councilmembers
have reacted differently to the proposal, because there are so many
variables.

A particularly important aspect of this proposal is that the street
would be completely redone to include bike and pedestrian improvements
(well-delineated bike lanes, for example)--a move towards making El
Camino truly multi-modal, following the vision of the Grand Boulevard
initiative.
If the proposal is not adopted, it is unclear when or how such
modifications would happen.

Having dedicated lanes will enable the buses to run much faster, as
they're staying out of the way of other traffic. There will be 10-
minute headways. Other features will make 20-second stops possible.
Passengers will be able to use WiFi, relax, and enjoy a very smooth,
speedy ride.

While this is a one-time-only chance to do this project, with funding
from a Measure A bond 11 years ago and federal help, the situation is
complicated by the fact that the project qualifies for federal funding
only if 50% or more of the El Camino corridor has dedicated BRT lanes.
If the project does not quality for federal funding, that will almost
certainly mean that BRT anywhere along El Camino will not happen. And
to get 50% or more of El Camino to have dedicated BRT lanes, the
Mountain View City Council must agree to dedicated lanes along the
Mountain View section of El Camino from its Sunnyvale border to
Showers. The Sunnyvale City Council will also have to sign on. So far
Santa Clara has said "yes". There are street configuration factors in
Palo Alto and San Jose that make it impossible to have dedicated lanes
at the far ends of the route, upping the ante for the "middle" cities.

I encourage you to take a quick look at these sources of additional
information:

* A video including some of our own Mountain View community members,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COVG7bps9p8

* A good FAQ about BRT: http://tinyurl.com/74gyryw

* VTA information at http://www.vta.org/brt/whatisbrt/index.html,
http://www.vta.org/brt/ecr/index.html, and http://www.vta.org/brt/resources/index.html

If you care about the future of El Camino Real, having much better
transit options in our area, bike and pedestrian improvements along a
critical corridor, getting people out of their cars, etc. - please
consider attending the January 17 meeting to learn more and comment,
or email the council with your feedback (see
http://www.mountainview.gov/city_council/email_council.asp).

I hope you will demonstrate your support for BRT and dedicated BRT
lanes along Mountain View's section of El Camino Real. It is critical
that the Council hear from a broad segment of the community.

Thanks for considering this request. I'd appreciate your getting back
to me with any comments or questions.

Julie
lovi...@pobox.com