Posted Mon Sep 29 04:39AM

In case you missed it, please see below the editorial endorsement by the San Jose Mercury News from this morning, supporting Measure B to bring BART to Santa Clara County, connect with Caltrain commuter rail service and San Jose International Airport, and finally build a rapid rail system that circles the entire Bay Area.

As the Mercury notes, Measure B could hardly come at a better time. The challenges with the national economy underscore the fact that Measure B - building the BART extension - will create thousands of well-paying local jobs that put people to work, on a transportation improvement that will help tens of thousands of us get to work.

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Editorial: Vote yes on Measure B to put BART on track to San Jose
Mercury News Editorial
Article Launched: 09/27/2008 08:00:00 PM PDT

Eight years ago this fall, 71 percent of Santa Clara County voters approved a tax to bring BART from Fremont through downtown San Jose to the Santa Clara Caltrain station. Finally, the largest city in the Bay Area and the urban core of Silicon Valley would be on the region's best commuter line, and high-speed transit would ring the bay.

That was before Sept. 11, 2001, and the dot-com crash. Since then, costs have gone up, and like the overall economy, revenue from the 2000 half-cent sales tax has lagged behind projections. The measure was supposed to provide the local share of both construction and operating costs, but now it will cover only construction.

Measure B on this fall's ballot is a one-eighth-cent sales tax to fill the gap in operating money, about $42 million a year. It's a reasonable price to pay for the dividend this line will pay to the region for generations to come. We strongly support it.

Bringing BART to San Jose is if anything more important now, as we struggle to achieve energy independence and to build communities where people don't have to drive everywhere. And make no mistake: Measure B is only about BART. It is very narrowly drawn. It will not be collected until every dollar needed to construct the line is firmly committed, and it cannot be spent on anything but operating the BART line.

While BART has had setbacks, much has gone as hoped. The Valley Transportation Authority already has spent $460 million buying the right of way and on pre-engineering studies. Just last week, the state completed its commitment of $760 million toward the $6.1 billion project. It's money well spent.
Measure B will help secure the final piece of the construction puzzle: $750 million in federal dollars. The Federal Transit Administration will not recommend this allocation until it's confident VTA can operate the line. This is believed to be the final barrier - but if for some reason the federal money still isn't forthcoming, the Measure B tax will never be collected.

Opponents of this project have four main arguments: BART is old technology, the 2000 sales tax money should be spent on other things, the route is wrong, and you just can't trust VTA.

Yes, BART's old technology. It's proven, terrific technology, a fast, reliable system with a high fare-box return. That's why it's so popular. The 2000 tax measure never would have passed with that margin, if at all, for other projects.
On the route, some argue it should go to North San Jose instead of downtown. But the point isn't just to get East Bay commuters to existing jobs. It's a strategy to connect the region's major cities, universities, airports and other institutions, as well as job centers, and to focus new development in places like downtown San Jose, where high-density construction is welcome. Shifting that development to now-suburban areas would suck the life out of a downtown just starting to show real vitality.

As to VTA - it's not perfect. But the new general manager, Michael Burns, has improved its management and revitalized the all-important bus system. Ridership is growing. A state audit this year basically affirmed that the agency is on the right track.

On fiscal responsibility, one of our bellwethers is San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, as practical and parsimonious a politician as you'll find. Since BART was the passion of his predecessor and political nemesis, Ron Gonzales, he has no personal stake in this.

Reed isn't just supporting Measure B. He's co-chairing the campaign. He believes BART is critically important to San Jose now, but perhaps more important, that it's one of those things you just have to do for future generations.

We agree. Measure B is a referendum on that belief. Vote yes.

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