☆ Advice to Mahan: What’s the future of Pay-for-Performance & VTA?
Image by Wikimedia Commons
We continue our series with perspectives (from policy experts and SJ residents) on Mayor Mahan’s upcoming State of the City address. In this exclusive, Opp Now contributors Gus Mattammal and Ted Stroll probe Mahan for much-needed updates on his councilmember compensation proposal and Bay Area transit.
Gus Mattammal, Midcoast Community councilmember: You've announced a plan to measure performance and tie compensation to that performance. Given the entrenched interests that will want to see your plan fail, and given that regular people are simply not going to have time to read an obscure dashboard, what is your communication plan to show people how your performance-based compensation initiative is doing? Failing to communicate effectively will allow opponents to brand your plan a failure, which will have the perverse effect of making it harder for any other leader to try a similar plan in the future.
Ted Stroll, former California State Assembly candidate: Mayor Mahan is the vice-chairperson of the Valley Transportation Authority board. In his speech, he should discuss the future of VTA—and the possibility of replacing buses with modern transport.
Residents who need transit could be provided ride-hailing or taxi vouchers, with a co-payment matching what they pay for bus fare.
Most buses roll around mostly empty, burning fossil fuels. They also increase pollution emitted by cars caught behind them.
It’s reported that less than 1% of trips in San José are by bus. About two-thirds of passenger-miles are on bicycles as compared to buses, causing no pollution. Ninety-eight percent of travel mileage is by automobile, but I calculate that buses caused 13.7% of emissions in 2023.
VTA is costly: fixed infrastructure and rolling stock costs, salaries, pensions, and fuel. Mayor Mahan should address how he plans to protect taxpayers going forward—with a smart, feasible transit model.
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