Survey claims strong BART support in north county Survey claims strong BART support in north county (April 27, 2005)

Silicon Valley Leadership Group uses public opinion in its bid to garner support for a BART-to-San Jose link
Support for a BART connection into downtown San Jose is strong even in Palo Alto and Mountain View, according to a recent survey funded by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

"The policymakers on the VTA (Valley Transportation Agency) board are making some touch decision, but they should make them on a regional base," Carl Guardino, executive director of the Leadership Group, said of the reasons behind the survey.

The VTA board is faced with a hard reality of projected tax funds having dropped from about $7 billion in 2000 to about $5 billion today -- a "worst-case scenario," Guardino called it.

Guardino said the poll was scientifically done by Jim Moore of El Dorado Hills, who has worked with the group -- formerly the Silicon Valley Manufacturers Association -- for a quarter century. He said Moore "is ethical and has a great track record."

Guardino said he has been remarkably close in projecting two prior transportation-relation elections: in 1996 when he predicted 52 percent support and the outcome was 51.8 percent, and in the 2000 vote when he predicted 71 percent approval and the election came in at 70.4 percent.

In this survey, 1,000 persons were interviewed for a 3.1 percent accuracy rating compared to 500 interviews for a 4.8 percent plus-or-minus accuracy in past surveys, Guardino said.

Guardino declined to release actual questions and results of the survey other than those announced in a press release, but did go through the results question by question with the Weekly.

He said the results show continued strong support for the measure, with 69 percent supporting it today while 26 percent opposed it, compared to 29.6 percent opposed in 2000.

In Palo Alto, the results showed 79 percent support to 21 percent opposed, and Mountain View showed even stronger support, with 85 percent favorable to 12 percent opposed. Other outlying areas also showed strong support -- 79 percent in Morgan Hill and 78 percent in Campbell.

But only 69.27 percent of San Jose residents surveyed voiced support.

Guardino said the survey results clearly show BART is the number-one priority, despite some who challenge the results as slanted. The survey put BART head-to-head with several other transit and transportation projects, such as expansion and electrification of the Caltrain line up the Peninsula.

Critics say the head-to-head comparison is not the same as BART versus all other projects promised in the 2000 election, many of which face being swallowed by the BART project. Caltrain now carries about 27,000 passengers a day, and the improvements could double that by 2025-- with electrification adding another 4,000 trips by slightly speeding up the service.

Caltrain was rated as top priority by 44 percent of Mountain View residents and 38 percent of Palo Alto residents, the results indicated.

Service to seniors and the disabled followed BART as a priority, trailed relatively closely by operating current bus lines and the light-rail system and Caltrain improvements. Adding new light-rail lines and extending transit to the East Valley were distant runners up.

Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson can be e-mailed at jthorwaldson@paweekly.com.

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