All VTA Bus Routes Rolling After Strike, Some Light Rail Returns Monday

Less than two days after a judge issued an injunction to force striking transit workers back to their jobs with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, bus service in the region has fully resumed.

Immediately following the court ruling, the agency said it might only be able to offer partial bus service by Friday, but VTA Spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said all bus routes are now running.

The agency’s largest labor group, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 – which represents more than 1,500 bus drivers, train operators and maintenance workers – was on strike for 17 days over contract disputes, leaving tens of thousands of riders without critical public transit service, until the Wednesday injunction ended the work stoppage.

As for light rail trains, the agency expects at least partial service will be up and running by Monday, but more time may be needed for inspection and repairs to the system of tracks and overhead power cables before all three lines are back in operation, Hendler Ross said.

Copper wire that’s integral to the operation of the trains appears to have been stolen from different sections of all three VTA light rail lines, but the green line that runs from Santa Clara to Campbell was hit the hardest, she said.

“As our crews continue to inspect the light rail system, they’re looking for any problems that may have arisen because we weren’t running service over the last two weeks and they’re checking the tracks and they are checking other equipment near the system,” Hendler Ross said Friday.

The crews found “increased incidences of copper wire missing in multiple locations along the system,” she said, which are under investigation. “We are working to replace that copper wire because the trains can’t run without it.”

During the few days a ride-hailing voucher program was active from Monday night through Thursday night, Hendler Ross said 6,130 trips were taken with Uber between VTA transit stops.

The program was a partnership between VTA and Uber, with the transit agency paying up to $5 per ride in the form of vouchers to help ease the burden on riders who were without bus and train service. The total cost to the agency was $30,405, she said.

While service has resumed, the agency and ATU still have not hammered out a new contract, despite more than six months of negotiations and ongoing mediation and swapping of proposals during the strike.

“Negotiations can start any time ATU is willing to come back to the table with something that can help resolve the conflict,” Hendler Ross said. “So in the meantime, we’re focused on getting service back to our customers. But that doesn’t impede getting back to the negotiating table.”

Raj Singh, the president of ATU Local 265, didn’t respond to calls for comment. The union said in a statement after the injunction was issued that the group intends to appeal the decision.

Jean Cohen, the executive officer of the South Bay Labor Council, which has been helping ATU with negotiations, said in a statement that the council and ATU Local 265 “remain committed to negotiating with VTA management in good faith to secure a contract that guarantees transit workers a fair wage, as well as the dignity, due process and safety they deserve.”

“We will continue to put pressure on VTA Board members who engage in regressive bargaining or who retaliate against workers for exercising their constitutionally-protected rights,” Cohen said.