The Sunnyvale Sun

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Homestead students may lose in bus line proposal

By Stephen Baxter

A Valley Transportation Authority plan to streamline its bus network would leave some Homestead High School students on the curb.

A proposed change in the VTA's Comprehensive Operations Analysis would eliminate Route 51 on Homestead Road from Foothill Expressway to Wolfe Road. Route 53 would still run on Homestead from Mary Avenue to Hollenbeck Avenue, but two peak-hour buses would be cut.

"That segment is not performing well," Kevin Connolly said of Route 51. Connolly is the transportation and planning manager for the VTA.

"We see it as more productive to put the resources in other routes," he said. The rest of Sunnyvale would see few changes.

Some students and parents at Homestead High said they did not want fewer buses because it would encourage students to drive and park in the neighborhood around Homestead.

Jonrey Domingo is a 17-year-old junior at Homestead who doesn't have a driver's license. At 7:20 a.m. two or three times a week, he takes the 53 bus from his house near W. Washington Avenue in Sunnyvale. When it arrives at Homestead, the bus is usually packed with students.

Fewer peak buses "would be a problem for me," he said. "I'm used to taking it. I'd have to walk or get a ride."

Michael Sands lives near Homestead and has a son who is a sophomore there. As more students reach driving age later in the school year, he said more cars pack the neighborhood's streets.

Around 2:10 p.m. on school days, the bus stop at Homestead and Mary often has 50 students milling around it.

"And you would not believe the traffic around at the same time," Sands said.

VTA statistics indicate most students take Route 53 up Mary into the heart of the school's boundary, not Route 51 along Homestead.

The VTA plans to hold public meetings May 31 in Campbell and June 5 in San Jose for riders to weigh in on the proposed changes. Comments can also be e-mailed to coa@vta.org.

"These are proposals, and we need to hear from [riders] because we are in the input stage," Connolly said.