Silicon Valley Transit Users P. O.

Box 390069 Mountain View, CA 94039-0069 December 2, 2011

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board of Directors 3331 N. First Street San Jose, CA 95134 TO: All VTA Board of Directors & Staff RE: Current SVBX Capital Funding and Proposed SVBX Construction Contract Vote at December 8 VTA Board Meeting Dear VTA Board of Directors and Staff: As your December 8 Board meeting is at 9am - the start of the work day - I cannot attend this meeting. To that end, I have two questions regarding the issues mentioned above. * On page 13 of your July 2009 "BART Silicon Valley Public Mmeeting" notes for Milpitas, it was mentioned that VTA was applying for $850 million in Federal "New Starts" funding. As of the Administration and Finance Committee meeting notes for November 17, VTA is now applying for a maximum of $900 million in Federal "New Starts" funding. How does VTA account for the $50 million difference between July 2009 and now? The $50 million funding increase request suggests that capital costs for the Berryessa BART extension are already increasing - "cost creep" - even before construction has formally begun. * As for the proposed SVBX construction contract: while VTA has emphasized "design-build" as the strategy for constructing the Berryessa extension, what controls exist at VTA in lieu of SVBX construction to prevent "change orders" du ring the build process once design is finally approved? Such "change orders" end up increasing capital construction costs over time. In particular, every BART exten sion ever built has always cost double its original estimates, primarily due to "chan ge orders" during the construction process. Your written response to these questions is appreciated. Sincerely, Eugene Bradley Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users /eeb