John Capuchino

VTA Transit Center a Mixed Bag

De Anza College has entertained the possibility of building a Valley Transit Authority Center since 2001. The plans were created by the VTA, in conjunction with De Anza College, to fit the then current parking lot configuration. After an approval by the college and the board of trustees VTA lost their funding for the project and the plan was shelved with no date set to resume planning. Subsequently De Anza decided to build the Stelling Parking Structure and further develop parking lots A, B and C. In late 2005 VTA contacted De Anza College with the news that funding was reinstated. The original construction plans from 2001 are no longer viable due to the construction with the supposition that the transit center was not going to be built. Jeanine R. Hawk, Vice President of Finance and College Services said that now the issue is that the original transit center no longer fits. At this point De Anza is working with VTA to design a new transit center that will fit the parking lot. VTA has submitted a design that is an elongated version of the original circular transit center. According to Jordan Eldridge, Student Trustee, the most recent plan for construction of the transit center does not fit the allotted space. As the plans are currently drawn, the building of the transit center would require either the movement or the destruction of some campus buildings. The transit center would be a great convenience for those currently using public bussing as transportation. VTA is planning to increase the number of current routes to fifteen-minute intervals regardless of the construction of the transit center. It would act as a hub where students could wait to catch the bus, and where busses could wait to fit schedules. The center will be built large enough to hold eight busses at a time. Rather than being dropped at Stevens Creek Blvd, Stelling Ave or in the front of the Target Shopping Center, students would be dropped off in front of the L Quad. Miss Hawk said that the added accessibility and convenience of the busses would hopefully boost the use of public transportation, and reduce the amount of single student commuters Many details concerning the building of the transit center have yet to be resolved. Eldridge said that the building of the transit center would create a loss of 260-400 parking stalls. There would be 500 bus trips a day, which could potentially create a bottleneck at the intersection of Stelling and Peppertree. The traffic problem could require a second traffic light that would be installed to govern the traffic before it reaches the intersection. This would cause delays. Also, the traffic center would take space from the De Anza Flea Market, which earns more than a million dollars in revenue a year and funds student services like tutorial centers, La Voz Newspaper, and the ICC. For now the plans to build the transit center are at a stand still. Miss Hawk said that De Anza College is not going to move forward until a plan is drafted that the college finds acceptable. Eldridge said that for the moment, the problems that would be created if the transit center were built outweigh the benefits.