Soaring labor costs sinking VTA's biz model, making a mockery of Measure B promises
Guess what's hugely outpacing inflation? What VTA pays its workers. Athan Joshi reports for CA Policy Center.
Labor cost per VTA rider trip has jumped 2.5 times from $6.5 in FY15 to $16 in FY25. County residents are now paying almost 146 percent more in labor expenses to put a single passenger on a VTA vehicle, even though the overall Consumer Price Index (used to track general prices over time) has risen just by a third over the same time frame. This means tax dollars don’t go as far as they used to, and signals deep inefficiencies the agency needs to tackle.
Santa Clara County voters approved Measure B in 2016, a half-cent sales tax increase sold as a way to “enhance transit” and fund critical infrastructure like the BART Silicon Valley extension. This measure, passed with 72 percent support, was supposed to be a game-changer, leveraging local revenue to secure regional and federal funds. Instead, it’s become another burden on taxpayers, with funds largely absorbed by VTA’s ever-growing labor costs and payrolls instead of delivering the reliable, high-quality transit system voters were promised.
For the price of its bloated labor budget, VTA could have invested in practical solutions: more frequent bus routes, modernized light rail, or transit-oriented development to generate sustainable revenue. Instead, the agency clings to costly megaprojects like the BART extension, which promise little ridership gain for billions in expenditure. A 2024 state audit highlighted the folly of VTA’s $653 million Eastridge light rail extension, projecting a mere 1.5 percent ridership increase by 2043, hardly a justification for $272 million per mile of track. These projects aren’t about serving the public; they are about perpetuating a cycle of spending that enriches connected interests while leaving riders with subpar service.
The recent strike by VTA staff, represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, only underscores the agency’s dysfunctional priorities. In March 2025, VTA was forced to file a legal complaint against the union for breaching a “no-strike” clause, disrupting service and further eroding public confidence.
It’s a stark reminder of the entitled mindset that pervades public sector unions, who see taxpayer money as an endless well to tap.
VTA’s defenders might argue that maintaining service levels in the face of economic uncertainty is a victory. But preserving a broken system is no triumph. With ridership at 60 percent of peak levels, VTA’s refusal to confront its structural issues, from extremely low farebox recovery (just 5 percent) to runaway labor costs, ensures that deficits will grow and taxpayers will keep footing the bill.
The VTA’s budget woes are not an isolated case but a microcosm of a state where special interests, unions, government bureaucrats, and their political allies line their pockets while public services stay mediocre. This is the essence of California’s public sector dysfunction: a system where failure is rewarded, and taxpayers are left holding the bag. Santa Clara County deserves better.
Read the whole thing here.
Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity
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.