Transit Briefs: DART, Denver RTD, SCVTA, SEPTA, Valley Rail
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority on June 14 held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of its West Portal facility, the future location of the Santa Clara Station and Newhall Yard & Maintenance Facility, and the site where the Tunnel Boring Machine will be assembled and launched to bore the five-mile underground tunnel for the BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project. (SCVTA Photograph)
Dallas (Tex.) Area Rapid Transit (DART) eyes fare structure changes. Also, Denver (Colo.) Regional Transportation District CEO earns a Women in Business Award; California’s Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) celebrates the West Portal groundbreaking for its BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) advances a subway station accessibility project; and construction kicks off for the Valley Rail program in California.
DART
The DART Board of Directors on June 18 approved a public hearing to receive comments on proposed fare changes, according to the transit agency. The public hearing, scheduled for Aug. 27, 2024, is said to be part of a community outreach process that will include a series of informational briefings and activities at rail stations and bus transfer centers where community members can ask questions and provide feedback. These outreach activities are slated to begin in June and conclude with the public hearing in August.
According to DART, staff have performed a comprehensive review and analysis of the current fare policy and structure, “working to understand how any changes might impact ridership and customer experience.” The agency is considering simplifying the fare structure by consolidating the single ride (bus and GoLink only), AM/PM, and midday passes into a standard three-hour pass and eliminating the retail annual pass. The day pass fare will remain the same and the monthly pass will increase.
Proposed fare restructure details are as follows:
DART reported that the regional fare structure governed by DART, Trinity Metro, and Denton County Transportation Authority (Tex.) has been discussed by the three transit agencies. Any potential changes to the regional fare structure will be presented to each transit agency’s Board, as well as to the public for feedback, in 2025.
Denver RTD
Denver RTD General Manager and CEO Debra A. Johnson has been selected by the Denver Business Journal as a 2024 Outstanding Women in Business winner, the transit agency reported June 20. She is one of 26 honorees chosen as the Denver metro area’s top women executives, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and influencers. The awards presentation is set for Aug. 1.
Johnson began leading Denver RTD in 2020. She is the first woman in the agency’s history to take on the role—responsible for budget, capital projects and service delivery of commuter rail, light rail and bus options across the Denver metro region. She served previously as Deputy CEO of Southern California’s Long Beach Transit.
SCVTA
SCVTA on June 14 held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of its West Portal facility, the future location of the Santa Clara Station and Newhall Yard & Maintenance Facility that crosses between the City of San José and the City of Santa Clara. This is the site where the Tunnel Boring Machine will be assembled and launched to bore the five-mile underground tunnel for the BART (San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District) Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project (Phase II Project; see map below), according to SCVTA, which is the project’s funding agency and delivery manager, while BART will be the system operator and maintainer.
SCVTA’s extension of the regional BART system will integrate Santa Clara County with the greater Bay Area BART system. The six-mile extension project—which includes three underground stations (28th Street/Little Portugal, Downtown San José, and Diridon), one at-grade station (Santa Clara), a maintenance facility, and five miles of subway tunnel—will expand BART service from the Berryessa Transit Center in northeast San José through downtown San José into the City of Santa Clara. The 10-mile BART Phase I Berryessa Extension Project opened in 2020; it begins south of BART’s Warm Springs Station in Fremont, proceeds through Milpitas and ends in the Berryessa area of north San José.
“The Phase II Project promotes inclusive, transit-oriented communities and supports the development of 60 million square feet, including affordable housing,” SCVTA reported. “These communities foster diverse economic opportunities and sustainable, vibrant neighborhoods. By prioritizing equitable access and affordable housing, the project connects 1.7 million transit-dependent riders annually to high-quality transit, reflecting VTA’s commitment to inclusive growth and social equity.”
The agency said that Santa Clara County commuters will benefit from an average travel time saving of 30 minutes for a 50-mile commute. Additionally, Bay Area residents will gain access to 1 million jobs in the Silicon Valley, while 2 million people will have access to 3.5 million jobs in Santa Clara County. The shift from car use to BART is projected to reduce annual CO emissions by 50 tons and greenhouse gas emissions by 19,500 tons by 2040, according to SCVTA.
“SCVTA has been unwavering in its commitment to this project,” said Carolyn Gonot, General Manager and CEO of SCVTA, which is planning a 2037 launch. “Our goal is to provide efficient, sustainable transit solutions that serve the needs of our growing communities.”
SEPTA
SEPTA on June 17 broke ground on a new project that will make the Broad Street Line’s Erie Station fully accessible. During the ceremonial event, U.S. Department of Transportation officials announced that it “is the first station accessibility project in the nation to advance to construction with funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP),” according to SEPTA.
Work on the $38 million Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act project, slated for completion in summer 2026, includes the installation of a new elevator from street level to the station mezzanine and new elevators from the mezzanine to the northbound and southbound platforms. Other planned improvements to the station include:
- Reconstructed cashier booth and fare lines.
- Stairway and entrance improvements and platform modifications.
- New lighting and other electrical improvements.
- Enhanced security features including ADA-compliant communications system upgrades with emergency call boxes and HD security cameras.
- Structural improvements (mezzanine beams).
- New station architectural finishes.
- Drainage and waterproofing improvements.
- Streetscape improvements to the Broad-Germantown-Erie (BGE) triangle, in partnership with the City of Philadelphia.
Located two blocks from Temple University Hospital, Erie Station is said to provide access to employment, healthcare and other services, with connections to six SEPTA bus routes.
The Erie Station ADA Project is one of six SEPTA station accessibility projects that will be supported by ASAP funding. In December 2022, SEPTA was awarded $56 million through the first round of ASAP grant funding to support ADA projects at five Broad Street Line stations, including Erie, and one Market-Frankford Line station.
“SEPTA is fully committed to making our vehicles and stations accessible to all, and ASAP funding is allowing us to accelerate our efforts to achieve that goal,” SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards said. “We are grateful to our partners at the federal, state, and local levels for supporting our accessibility initiatives and helping to ensure that people of all abilities can fully utilize their transit system.”
SEPTA reported that it recently completed an ADA project at Susquehanna-Dauphin Station and is on track to complete its 13th fully accessible Broad Street Line station when work at Tasker-Morris Station wraps up later this year. It also said that the SEPTA Board is scheduled to vote this month on the agency’s Fiscal Year 2025 Capital Budget and 12-Year Capital Program, which is projected to invest $1.4 billion in station accessibility projects. By the end of the 12-year program, all Broad Street Line, Market-Frankford Line and Trolley trips will be through an accessible station, compared with 61% today, according to SEPTA, which announced its proposed FY 2025 budget in April.
Valley Rail
Representatives from the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC), San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA), and South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) on June 20 reported marking the first major step in the construction phase of the Valley Rail program by officially braking ground on the Lathrop Wye Box Culvert (Box Culvert) project.
Valley Rail is a joint program that includes improvements and expansions of both Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) and Amtrak San Joaquins between the San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento, and the Bay Area (see fact sheet, top). It is slated to implement two new daily round-trips for the Amtrak San Joaquins service to better connect San Joaquin Valley travelers with the Sacramento Area, and extends ACE service between Sacramento and Merced.
The Box Culvert project—sited near the Manteca Unified School District office complex—is the first component of the two-part Lathrop Wye and Track Extension Project that will construct a concrete structural box culvert that provides a platform for the future track associated with the Lathrop Wye, according to SJRRC, SJJPA and SSJID. The second phase will construct the Lathrop Wye Track and provide the necessary track infrastructure to allow direct ACE train service between Ceres/Merced and San José. The second phase of construction is scheduled to begin in late 2025 or early 2026, the three organizations reported.
The 384-foot-long Box Culvert will function to allow the current irrigation drainage ditch to continue to provide irrigation for farms receiving water from SSJID and as a storm drain conveyance for approximately 10,210 acres of land in south Manteca and several regional municipalities, according to SJRRC, SJJPA and SSJID. The culvert will consist of double-barrel reinforced cast-in-place concrete culverts and is needed to support the new wye connection tracks, which will curve over a portion of the SSJID canal. The box culvert is expected to be completed by early 2025.
The Valley Rail program comprises several project segments: Lathrop to Ceres Extension, Sacramento Extension, Ceres-Merced Extension, Stockton Diamond Grade Separation, Madera Station Relocation, and the Oakley Station Project.
“The Valley Rail Program is one of the most transformational things happening in the Valley for probably 100 years,” said Stacey Mortensen, Executive Director of SJRRC. “Passenger service disappeared in the Valley for many years on this particular line. Valley Rail brings that passenger rail service back with a vengeance.” Regarding the Lathrop Wye Box Culvert Project, Mortensen said: “Where we are right here [in Lathrop] is a connection in the Central Valley that has never existed. Trains today cannot come from the Modesto area and seamlessly travel over the Altamont Pass. They all have to either go north to Sacramento or they have to perform a long series of moves to travel toward the Tri-Valley and South Bay area. This project, today, helps us make that connection so that trains can make a through move with passengers over to the Bay Area and back.”
