Commuters braved stormy weather and a lack of bus and light rail service Friday morning as a strike by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority workers reached the end of its first week.
The agency said the strike is impacting about 100,000 riders per day. As a result, those affected have faced increased transportation costs, longer commutes and missed classes. But some commuters expressed support for the strike despite the inconvenience – as well as a hope that it ends soon.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 went on strike Monday after contract negotiations reached an impasse last week. The union is pushing to secure higher pay amid rising costs of living and is seeking contract language that would guarantee arbitration for labor disputes.
The two sides met Thursday for the first time since the strike began. The mediation session lasted for most of the day, with a focus on coming closer to an agreement on pay raises and arbitration language.
The VTA also filed a lawsuit against the union alleging that it violated a “no strike” clause in their previous contract as another potential route to end the strike, but the union pushed back on the grounds that the contract expired.
At the Diridon Station in San Jose on Friday, a steady flow of rideshares picked up and dropped off commuters as the bus depot next door sat vacant. Some took scooters or bikes, and others pulled their coats tighter as they took off to walk through the rain and wind.
Some regular transit commuters have had to get creative with their routes to work, opting to use CalTrain followed by a rideshare or bike from the station to their offices.
Brian Petersen, 65, a San Francisco resident who commutes to San Jose for work, usually bikes from the train to his office, but on rainy days, he takes light rail instead. Because of the strike, he has had to Uber at a cost of $15 to $20 per ride, he said.
Don H., 47, who lives in Mountain View, has been walking and taking CalTrain in place of his normal bus routes, but he has had to change some of his frequent destinations such as his grocery store and where he picks up his prescriptions because they are more difficult to get to without the bus, he said.
“It’s been rough,” Don said, adding that he pays for a monthly bus pass that he now cannot use. “Everything is an added 20 minute walk, 30 minute walk.”
Don said he has been adding an extra hour to an hour and a half to his commute time because of the new route in case he misses a step or gets on the train in the wrong direction, which happened once this week.
“It’s more steps to everything. It’s tedious. Everything takes longer,” Don added. “I’m back to finding new ways to do everything, and I had a routine. It’s very frustrating.”
Rakhee Thak commutes from Fremont to San Jose each day for her job, and she would normally take the bus from the Diridon Station to her office. The alternate transportation she has been forced to use has added 10 to 15 minutes to her daily commute.
“I have to Uber,” she added. “There is no other option.”
Shreyas, 23, a graduate student at San Jose State University, said that he and other students have had to miss classes because of the difficulty of commuting to campus, and that the strike has made traveling “stressful” and “a bit unpredictable.”
The university had already given students free access to BayWheels, a bike rental service, but the rainy weather made that option more difficult, Shreyas said. He had to miss a few classes because the BayWheels bikes are in high demand and not always available.
“It’s been difficult to commute, especially to university, because … we can’t use cycles in the rain, so the only option remains is to walk,” Shreyas said. “Buses used to be pretty frequent, but now we have to be an hour early to reach classes.”
Claudia Goodsell, 63, normally takes the bus from Morgan Hill to her job working at theaters in downtown San Jose, but during the strike she has adapted to take CalTrain. Her train route has less time options than the bus, limiting when she has been able to travel to and from work, she said.
“Sometimes I end up working late at night, so then I have to take a Lyft back to Morgan Hill, which is very pricey,” she said. “So it’s really impacted how I get in and what assignments I have to work around as far as what shows I can take and what I can’t.”
Goodsell also noted that her commute has required more planning than usual.
“The freedom of having the bus schedule and the light rail schedule allowed me to work later than CalTrain allows me to work,” she said, adding that the last CalTrain back to Morgan Hill is much earlier than the last bus.
Goodsell also had to take a rideshare back to Morgan Hill which cost upwards of $60 or $70 one way, she added, but noted that she had not noticed an increase in rideshare prices during the strike.
“It’s definitely so much more than I had budgeted for transportation,” she said.
Despite the additional stress, some commuters expressed support for the strike – paired with a hope that it ends soon.
“I understand their position, and really I wish them the best,” Goodsell said. “It’s something that’s not convenient for anyone, but if they’re going to make an impact, now is the time with Nvidia in town.”
Don said that it’s “complicated.”
“I get that they feel that they deserve to be compensated. I understand that,” he said. “I just wish they could figure it out as fast as possible.”