The VTA is mostly about itself - and secondly about maintaining the support of key San Jose politicians looking for South County projects - such as a subway for BART. There is no amount of money the VTA cannot pocket or waste. County-wide transportation projects should be controlled by the county Board of Supervisors. At least that Board developes some expertise and is elected directly.

The VTA should consider 12 passenger vans for their routes instead of their massive double busses, that run 90% empty at best. The vans could run more cheaply, more often, and maybe even take passengers where they want to go. Now, many taking the bus have to get off and either take uber or a taxi to their final destination.
The waste, graft and outright empire building is criminal. VTA is a 20th century technology in a 21st century world and they will be destroyed when self-driving cars become commonplace.
When they had the stupidity to try and take two lanes on El Camino for their busses alone, they were exposed for how desperate they are to look valid. That ploy was enough for the public to see that they really were never interested in serving the public - they just wanted to built their paper castle at the expense of the public.

VTA operates under the mindset that it is providing transport to poor people who have all day to sit on a bus snaking around neighborhoods instead of having the mindset of operating an efficient service as an alternative to driving.

It also seems to forget that the north part of the county is important as part of its system.

Until it starts providing efficient services that operate competitively it will never win over new ridership and continue to fail.

Read Jarrett Walker's blog ( https://humantransit.org ) He is a well regarded transportation expert that was hired by the VTA and other transit agencies worldwide.

1. the big cost of running a bus service is the bus driver cost not bus size

2. bus seats are occupied by multiple riders during a journey. The bus that is empty during part of a journey could easily be packed earlier in that same journey.

3. A bus route exists to maximize transportation utility to the greatest number of rider. A bus route is NOT supposed to provide a perfect solution to a single rider.

4. A bus route exists to provide useful transportation at a low per rider cost. A van ("dial-a-ride") aka Uber or Taxi is a very costly service to provide. VTA is not in the UBER business. 1 month of Uber rides is extremely costly for anyone who is not making $120+K.

I wasn't surprised by the comment from the VTA employee who responded to me (by using @interested as his/her name). I realize you have to do all you can to keep the VTA going, as it's your livelihood, but the waste and graft is criminal and the public is not fooled.
This reminds me of the woman who was the lone person speaking FOR the VTA lane grab on El Camino, and was quickly exposed as a VTA employee.
What you at the VTA have to realize, is you made a MASSIVE mistake trying to take half the lanes on El Camino from the public, for YOUR exclusive use. It's clear you've never had the pubic good as your goal.... just your own empire building.
Don't bother to give me your response. Everyone can see right through you.

Interested and @Interested have pretty different ideas about VTA specifically and public transit in general.

As a former (more than 30 years, but frequent for less than 10 years) commuter on VTA; and as an infrequent user for general errands, eg, to go to the barber shop when it was not convenient to take our (one) car, I rely on my personal experience.

The route I took going to and from work was very conveniently located (less than 5-minute walks between house and bus stop, and between office and bus stop). It was only marginally convenient with respect to time: often hourly schedules, sometimes half-hourly, never as frequent as the "15 minute" buses like the 22 bus. The bus was neither the tiny 12 passenger van Interested advocates (even for this lightly used route, that would sometimes mean there would be no room for me to board the van); and it was not the massive double bus Interested sneers at.

When I did ride the 22 double buses, I did not find them 90% empty AT BEST; instead I often found them with more passengers than that, and even, on rare occasions, there were standees. This was despite nearly always riding the 22 bus in non-rush-hour times.

So, why am I not riding the bus any more?

I no longer work, so no commuting. I gave up my Driver's License about 10 years ago because I was such a poor driver, so my wife now takes me on errands that are, year after year, shorter and less frequent--to the point where our car is now driven less than 3000 miles per year. Nowadays, all of our big travel miles are by airline or cruise ship, and we get to those by taxi, Uber, SuperShuttle, and CalTrain--all of which are much more expensive per mile than VTA, though CalTrain is close.

That brings up the cost of VTA travel. To the passenger, the cost is a REAL bargain; to VTA, the cost is MUCH more than their income from fares--and that extra cost is ultimately paid by every one via their taxes.