Is state pickpocketing VTA?

The Pickpocket and the Newsie, depicting New York Street Urchins by Karl Witkowski circa 1885, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Daniel Borenstein, in a Mercury News opinion column, says that the State's recent short-term bail-out of regional mass transit agencies may, in fact, jeopardize the realization of South Bay transportation goals.

In a Sunday column, the Merc's opinion editor notes how the "temporary" loan may:

• Enable ongoing reckless spending by VTA, BART, and other regional agencies.

• Mortgage major South Bay transit goals to allow other regional agencies to make near-term payroll, as the loan will, in part, be secured by funds previously allocated to South Bay capital projects.

• Further highlight the unsustainable ballooning of the projected cost of the  downtown San Jose BART extension, the cost of which has doubled since 2020 to $12.8bn (no typo).

• Expose VTA to further financial uncertainty, as the loan on funds previously allocated to VTA are expected to be repaid from the proceeds of other transit agencies in the future.  {Editor's note: Good luck with that.}

Read more about it here.

Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity

Sign up to receive updates on Opp Now articles

Email Address:

First Name:

Last Name:

We prize letters from our thoughtful readers. Typed on a Smith Corona. Written in longhand on fine stationery. Scribbled on a napkin. Hey, even composed on email. Feel free to send your comments to us at opportunitynowsv@gmail.com or (snail mail) 1590 Calaveras Ave., SJ, CA 95126. Remember to be thoughtful and polite. We will post letters on an irregular basis on the main Opp Now site.