VTA: No Timeline For Reopening Light Rail Service After Deadly Mass Shooting
SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- The Valley Transportation Authority says there is no timeline for re-opening light rail service after the deadly mass shooting last week.
VTA was trying to cover the absence of light rail service with bus bridges along those same routes, but now, even that service is being discontinued. This means VTA riders will have to get around by bus route only.
Light rail rider John Rainville was using the bus bridges to get to and from work but now he's torn between sympathies for the VTA and his need to get around.
"Everytime I pass by the yard, I get emotional," Rainville said. "But I know a lot of people are getting frustrated because they have to wait and wait and wait and wait."
VTA trains haven't been run since Wednesday, when a VTA employee gunned down 9 of his co-workers and then committed suicide. But now the VTA says it doesn't have the staffing to run those bridge routes anymore.
The VTA's interim General Manager Evelynn Tran posted a statement saying:
"I have directed staff to make our people our first priority. It will mean providing less service to the community than
we would wish."
One man trying to piece together a transit route wondered when service will get back to normal.
"Is it affecting me? Yeah. We carry on don't we? I mean we have to move on," said Kenneth Yonkers of Gilroy.
Because of limited operator availability, the VTA warned riders that even bus service will be slower than normal.
