The Cupertino Courier
News
Council puts brakes on shuttle buses
By Crystal Lu
The city of Cupertino's plan to fund a shuttle service to help alleviate traffic congestion around the tri-school area has run out of gas.
The council derailed the proposal at its Nov. 20 meeting after it was deemed too costly and not likely to improve the situation.
The tri-school area, including Monta Vista High, Kennedy Middle and Lincoln Elementary Schools, is congested every morning when parents drive their children to school.
"I worried when I heard that emergency vehicles were sometimes unable to get through that area, so I tried to help," said Mayor Kris Wang, who had proposed the city-funded shuttle service.
"I appreciate that you gave it a shot," responded Councilman Richard Lowenthal, who is leaving the council after eight years. "I hope you will continue with your energy to find another solution to this problem."
Cupertino resident David Greenstein also spoke against the shuttle proposal.
"It's noble to try a shuttle," he said. "But it has to be there at the right time and parents have to be willing to let their kids use it."
Greenstein has been trying to get students in his neighborhood to walk to school with him for the past four years, but so far only 30 to 40 of them have participated. Since his effort hasn't convinced many parents to change their behavior, Greenstein doesn't think any kind of busing or shuttle program would work.
The council on Oct. 2 had directed the public works department to draft a shuttle proposal and evaluate the feasibility of offering it on a one-to-three-month trail basis for less than $100,000.
The staff worked with Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, a transportation consulting firm to evaluate two scenarios of shuttle services. The first one was a shuttle service only along McClellan Road between Foothill Road and De Anza Boulevard. The second option was an additional route on Bubb Road between McClellan Road and Rainbow Drive.
The staff also discussed the annual costs of the scenarios with two large providers of public shuttle buses. El Paseo Limousine would have charged $232,000 annually to run shuttles along McClellan Road and $470,000 for the route on Bubb Road. MV Transit priced it at $320,000 per year for the first option and $720,000 per year for the second. Both companies required a minimum one-year contract.
Additionally, miscellaneous start-up costs were estimated at around $12,000.
City staff also stressed that the main contributing causes to the traffic issues in the tri-school area--the location of the schools, lack of district funding for busing, and the driving behavior of the parents--aren't under the city's control.
