The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is starting to take first steps to properly retire 95 paratransit cars and vans after a Jan. 7 news report by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit. The investigation revealed that VTA left the vehicles to depreciate for at least four years.
On Feb. 9, the agency started moving some of the cars to prepare for auction. The actual auction will start in April, VTA said.
Dozens of the deserted vehicles, paid for by taxpayer dollars, have been sitting in VTA’s Cerone Division Lot off Zanker Road in San Jose since at least 2020, satellite imaging reviewed by NBC Bay Area reveal.
In a recent interview with the Investigative Unit, VTA board chairperson and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said she is concerned the agency may have missed a critical window.
“As you'll recall, during COVID, there was a big strain on supply chains, and there was a high level of interest to be able to buy used automobiles,” she said.
Chavez also said she and other board members had no idea of the problem until they saw the news report.
“I was not aware of the issue. I had a chance to watch your story, and that gave me an opportunity to have a conversation with the staff, so thank you for that,” Chavez said.
Chavez added she is now speaking with the VTA staff about creating new internal checks that would remind the agency when a retired car is ready for auction.
“We need to make sure we apply that across the agency in terms of even asset management, which is certainly something that I'll make sure VTA pursues. And it's something that's instituted as soon as possible,” she said.
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The 95 abandoned VTA ACCESS paratransit vehicles were used. Most have more than 100,000 miles on them after driving around some of the South Bay’s most vulnerable passengers, such as elderly or disabled riders who qualify for the program. VTA said it retired the vehicles when they were “past their useful life.”
Rather than starting the auction process when staff decommissioned the cars, VTA left the fleet in two South Bay lots. Adding to the vehicles’ loss in value, in 2022, catalytic converter thieves targeted some of the paratransit Toyota Prius vehicles, costing taxpayers at least $10,000 more in security enhancements, VTA maintenance records obtained by NBC Bay Area show.
When NBC Bay Area asked about the fleet, VTA staff declined an on-camera interview but said in an email that the initial auction process was delayed due to staffing changes and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our obligation is to get as much money back that we can because those were public dollars that were spent,” Chavez said.
Eugene Bradley, founder and CEO of Silicon Valley Transit Users, a VTA watchdog group, said the agency has more than missed a window to sell the vehicles; he feels VTA compromised the cars.
“Now that this auction will finally happen, who would buy vehicles that have been exposed to the elements for up to four years? I believe only scrap metal companies would buy these vehicles,” Bradley said.
According to VTA, on Mar.18, advertisements will begin for the vehicles and the auction. The actual auction will take place on Apr. 30. If the cars don't sell, they will go back into the auction process again.
