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The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has proposed a two-year budget plan that would maintain a 15 percent operating reserve, invest in infrastructure and enhance service without raising fares.

The proposal — which covers July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2013, — calls for an operating budget of $363 million for fiscal-year 2012 and $374 million for FY2013.

The budget reflects the agency’s “sound financial position” after two years of belt-tightening measures that included unpaid furloughs and pay and hiring freezes, VTA General Manager Michael Burns said in a prepared statement.

The agency “has come through the worst of the recession with our bus and light-rail system intact,” he said. “Now we must focus our resources and invest in necessary and deferred maintenance, as well as enhancements that will help VTA attract new riders to our system.”

Proposed service changes would be phased in starting in July, then again in January 2012 and July 2012. In July 2011, the light-rail schedule would change to “further improve system performance and reliability,” officials said.
 
VTA will host six public meetings in early May to gather input on the proposed budget before the board reviews it for final consideration later in the month.