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Endorsement
WG voters should support Measure A
Linking the Bay Area's largest city with BART, the Bay Area's largest transit system, is an idea whose time has come. A BART link to downtown and the rail station near the arena will allow San Jose to continue to evolve as a great city without allowing it to further devolve into a car-choked mess.
Try as we might, Silicon Valley will not stop growing. The best option is smart growth: concentrated housing in urban cores linked to work centers and recreation venues by clean, electric rail transit vehicles.
Not only will Measure A bring BART here, build new light rail lines, expand bus service and improve CalTrain, it will free up $2 billion in funds to fix streets, remove graffiti, add soundwalls and bikeways and improve highways.
Measure A is sponsored by the Valley Transportation Authority and endorsed by the Manufacturing Group, the Greenbelt Alliance, the AARP, the California State Auto Association and the county and state taxpayers' associations.
The measure's detractors acknowledge the pressing need for a transit solution but want more time to come up with a different plan. They won't say what their plan is, though, which means that the alternative to Measure A is anybody's guess. The valley's transportation problems are too pressing to play those kinds of political games. Moreover, to drag this process out longer could place up to $1 billion in state traffic funds at risk.
Let's not take those chances. By continuing the half-cent sales tax, we can keep cars off the road and breathe cleaner air with a well balanced transit system. The Willow Glen Resident recommends a "yes" vote on Measure A.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
