Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Planners suggest free shuttle for downtown employees

By Jeff Kearns

Ken Kesey used to ask the other pranksters: Are you on the bus, or are you off the bus?

The Planning Commission voted unanimously last week (minus Kathryn Morgan) to get on the bus, approving a proposal that would put $76,000 in parking in-lieu fees toward creating a bus service to shuttle downtown-area employees to and from the park-and-ride lot on the north side of Highway 9.

The assessment district and shuttle proposals go next to the Town Council, which has the final say. The commission's recommendation is still preliminary, although the town has had the shuttle-bus idea on the back burner for eight years.

Commission chairwoman Sandy Decker proposed using the parking funds for a bus at the commission's April 8 meeting, and the other commissioners quickly climbed on board.

"I'm really pleased it's being discussed," Joe Pirzynski said. "Sometimes you hear people talk as if Highway 9 was a big river with nowhere to cross."

Len Pacheco said he supported the plan wholeheartedly. "I'm pleased to hear a proactive campaign to get employees to park away from work."

Decker says that the idea of a shuttle bus has already been studied extensively, and she hopes the money won't be used for more studies, but rather to initiate a pilot program that could eventually become permanent. Studies have concluded that employees take up a large amount of prime downtown parking spaces. Decker envisions a looping service that runs up N. Santa Cruz Avenue and down University Avenue from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The new assessment district is being proposed for a small handful of businesses, including Laleh's Deli, on N. Santa Cruz Avenue north of Highway 9.

The Planning Department recommended that the in-lieu fees be spent for improvements such as repaving the park-and-ride lot or mass-transit improvements in the area. Senior planner Bud Lortz said that money for repaving the lot could come from other sources.

The city of Emeryville recently began operating a similar free shuttle service called Emery-Go-Round, which is funded by a combination of public and private money and is open to anyone who doesn't want to drive--or walk. The 24-seat shuttles operate every 15 minutes six days a week, connecting BART, office buildings, shopping centers and other areas.

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