October 4, 2005

All Aboard!

Light rail comes to Campbell

By Jennifer Robertson
Staff Writer

The opening of the new light rail station in Campbell symbolizes the city’s ever-increasing presence on the map of the Santa Clara Valley.

Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn delivered a proclamation to the City of Campbell.

Once an important rail stop due to its orchards, drying yards and canneries, the station serves as a reminder of Campbell’s history while allowing the city to embrace the future by becoming more fully integrated with the other communities in the Bay Area.

The Vasona light rail extension was dedicated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the county of Santa Clara on Saturday, Oct.1 at a ceremony held at Orchard City Drive in Campbell next to the Campbell station. The crowd applauded as the ceremonial speakers arrived on the inaugural train that traveled from the VTA Convention Center Station in San Jose to the new Campbell station.

As dignitaries representing city governments, businesses and communities across Santa Clara County stepped off the train and onto the platform, it became apparent what an enormous collaborative effort brought this project to fruition.

“Using the light rail extension offers tremendous opportunities for all of us . . . The new line truly links all of the counties together,” said Mayor Jane Kennedy during a passionate speech supporting the new light rail extension and public transportation in general.

While many of the politicians jokingly pleaded with the audience to use the light rail to visit the farmers markets in their own districts or cities, the underlying message was a desire for Campbell and the other small communities to be better connected to one another, opening the door to more opportunities for everyone.

Kennedy welcomed numerous officials including Campbell Councilmembers Jeanette Watson and Dan Furtado, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, San Jose Councilmembers Ken Yeager, Linda Lezotte and Forrest Williams, County Supervisor Jim Beall and former County Supervisor Rod Diridon.

An enthusiastic audience included a little boy with a train conductor’s hat who blew a train whistle each time a name was announced and people applauded.

Cohn elaborated on public transportation’s crucial role in building a sense of community when she talked about her experience of living in Europe as a consultant. She was able to attend concerts, go shopping and go to the park without having to be “bound to a fossil-fuel vehicle.”

Cohn said she would be using the light rail to get to her downtown office from her home in Campbell.
It was also pointed out that the new line will make it easier for community members to go to Sharks games, the Children’s Discovery Museum, restaurants and special events.

The celebration included food donated by restaurants in Campbell and San Jose, and free train rides from 10:45 a.m. to midnight, bringing the community together to experience a new way to look at transportation in their area.

VTA staff assisted riders by disseminating brochures, pamphlets and maps about how to utilize the service, and answering questions about specific routes. Inside the train, excitement filled the cars as families with children, senior citizens, small groups of curious teenagers and residents of Campbell and neighboring communities rode the train for the first time.

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales

Shoukatbanu Merchant, a senior citizen who has lived in Campbell for 34 years, is one of the many who commented enthusiastically on the new extension. “I think it’s excellent, especially if I can take the shuttle from home and I don’t have to take my car,” she said. “The gas prices are going up and when you are on Social Security it’s difficult.” She rode the new line to “see how it is” and where she might want to go. She will probably use the line to go shopping in Mountain View and to visit the Campbell Community Center.

Others were interested in using the train as an alternative way to get to work. Madalyn Perrine, another Campbell resident, will have to walk about one mile each way and take two lines, but she wants to support public transportation. “I think it’s a very civilized way to get to work and hopefully, the extra time I spend commuting will be worth it.”

The new light rail service will operate every 15 minutes during commute hours and every 30 minutes during off-peak hours and weekends between downtown Campbell and downtown San Jose with direct service to Mountain View.

Your tax dollars at work
In 1996, the voters of Santa Clara County agreed to a one-half percent sales tax increase for public transportation projects. The $324 million project includes more than $164 million in local funding from the sales tax increase.

“One of my proudest moments as a public official is to have the promise of the voters vindicated,” said Supervisor Beall as he thanked the voters for supporting this project.

“This is a community that understands that to make progress, we all need to work together,” said U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. “If the whole country could have the attitude of Santa Clara County, the country would be a better place.”

The extension includes eight new stations located at Winchester Boulevard, downtown Campbell, Hamilton Avenue, Bascom Avenue, Fruitdale Avenue, Race Street, the San Jose Diridon CalTrain Station and San Fernando Street.

As more funding becomes available, the second phase of the project will connect the Winchester station in Campbell with the Vasona Junction in Los Gatos. And Rod Diridon, executive director of Mineta Institute of Transportation, projects that by the year 2020, Diridon Station will handle almost 1,000 trains a day. He earned applause when he suggested that when complete, “we’ll look a little more like Paris and a little less like Los Angeles.”

But all were reminded that the future of public transportation in the Valley depends not only on available funds, but also on the commitment of the people to utilize it.

“The success of this line will only happen now if you use it,” insisted Cohn.