Chak's Take: The Longest VTA Light Rail disruption in VTA history?

Cinco de Mayo in 2016 was not so lucky when I woke up to hearing KLIV news on the radio in the morning, while at the same time, tuning in to NBC Bay Area morning news program, Today in the Bay on TV. In fact, NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48 was part of the subject, as the incident happened just outside their studios.

The subject was a male person that managed to climb on top of one of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail trains at the Component station, closing off traffic and light rail service from Gish station northwards. Service was only available between Civic Center and either Santa Teresa or Winchester stations. The Almaden shuttle ran normally without problems. The subject, who according to deputies identified as 25-year old Kyle Lewis from Prunedale, was on probation. The light rail delay was severe that bus bridges had to be called in. Light rail service for Alum Rock and Mountain View must get through the Component station in order for service to start. However, the service was not that fortunate, as only a very limited number of trains were able to get through. Lewis's goal was to "disrupt the morning commute," as he was feeling agitated that if officers were to get close to him, Lewis would spit back at officers. 

Given that NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48 staff saw the activity, they were first to be there, as the studio location on North First Street near Component Drive made it possible for their crews to reach the scene in seconds. The VTA light rail station at Component is only less than 100 feet from the station. News crews from other stations generally took took less than 45 minutes to reach the scene, depending on their location. San Francisco or Oakland-based stations may take longer if those stations do not have a Santa Clara County bureau. 

For me, going to San Jose State University entirely by car to avoid the possibility of service disruptions in the light rail system had to be my best bet. Traffic in the Silicon Valley took longer than normal, as accidents crippled the morning commute, particularly on northbound U.S. 101 from as far back as Blossom Hill Road. City streets were also more crowded than normal as well, including Capitol Expressway, Tully Road, and Senter Road. 

But the main question posed the practice of how VTA would handle any hostage situation. Two VTA spokespeople spoke on the issue. Brandi Childress said in VTA's blog that the VTA light rail system operates 154 of the 168 hours per week, or 22 of the 24 hours per day. The light rail starts moving around 4:15 AM on weekdays and 5 AM on weekends/holidays as opposed to 4 AM on weekdays (line 68) and 5 AM on weekends/holidays (all of them except line 22's 24 hour service). VTA's blog is also the place of what VTA spokeswoman Brandi Childress calls it as "the high voltage light rail system is not a place to trespass or interfere with operations" in regards to the incident. The high voltage - ranging from 750 to 800 volts, is actually a live overhead voltage of which a single contact with that voltage can kill a person instantly.

In my many years seeing VTA light rail grow from it's roots in 1987, I have never seen such an incident that would delay half of the number of VTA commuters that would force people into their cars like me. However, the overall system does face serious challenges ahead despite losing ridership between 2001 and 2010, of which I question what could happen next for the transit agency and the farebox recovery ratio. I shall explain more on my take on that part the next time I write about VTA.

Original Work: Kyle Chak
E-mail: chak595301@gmail.com
Twitter: @KyleSChak