Santa Clara VTA light rail: 25 years later, very low usage

Today’s Mercury News tells the story of how the Santa Clara VTA light rail system has consistently missed ridership targets while costing taxpayers more than expected in subsidies. The system only has 32,000 daily boardings, less than one-quarter of Muni’s light rail boardings – due largely to sprawling land use throughout the region that favors automotive commutes, but also slow speeds through the downtown “transit mall” and suburban lines. This should be a lesson to regional authorities considering where to build mass transit: build where the demand is!