Eugene B

Mountain View Solutions Meeting Tonight

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People will gather in Mountain View tonight to help solve Silicon Valley’s transportation and housing crisis.  The Friends of Caltrain will host an event to tackle these two vexing solutions more residents now face.  From the event invite:

How can Silicon Valley be so fast-moving when it comes to technology and so stuck when it comes to housing and transportation? Mountain View is now planning for housing in North Bayshore near Google, LinkedIn and Microsoft – how much will this help, and what else is needed?

Kim-Mai Cutler is the author of powerful and insightful articles in TechCrunch exploring the causes of the Bay Area’s housing and transportation conundrums. Come hear her explain how we got here, and explore ideas for change.

The event is co-sponsored by Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning, Balanced Mountain View, Sunnyvale Cool, Palo Alto Forward, Redwood City Forward, TransForm, Microsoft, LinkedIn.

TIME & DATE: TONIGHT 6:30pm
PLACE: Adobe House, 157 Moffett Blvd, Mountain View
GETTING THERE: Adobe House is 1/2 block (5 minute walk) from the Mountain View Transit Center and VTA light rail, Caltrain, and the 35 and 51 bus lines. It’s also a 5 minute walk from employee shuttle bus stops for Google, Yahoo, and others.

Click here to RSVP http://org.salsalabs.com/o/741/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=85391

Come early as the venue is expected to fill up quickly. See you tonight.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Recent Silicon Valley Transit News

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One VTA Board of Directors’ member replaces another that retired after Super Bowl 50.  A new Caltrain schedule will feature three bicycle cars on some trains. Cupertino and Palo Alto want their own local taxes to relieve traffic congestion. An online vote to help name a future BART station in East San Jose.  Details on all this are below as we catch up on some recent transit news in Santa Clara County.

Read more →

VTA Light Rail Repairs Complete; Other Bus and Rail Issues Today

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VTA light rail repair work north of downtown San Jose has completed. According to the San Jose Mercury News, light rail has returned to normal service in the area. Also, bus lines 66 and 181 are back on their regular work.

Meanwhile, in downtown Mountain View, construction at the Transit Center has forced VTA to move the 35 bus stop away from the bus lanes. The temporary bus stop for the 35 is on the north side of Hope Street, between W. Evelyn Ave. and Villa Street. The temporary bus stop will be in effect all day today while construction takes place.

Finally, in the East Bay, rail repair work between San Leandro and Bay Fair stations has forced BART to run shuttle buses between the stations in both directions. The shuttle buses are being run by AC Transit. As a result, BART is advising passengers to allow 30-60 minutes extra travel time this weekend. BART tracks in the affected area are expected to reopen on Monday at 4am.  Also, BART is still running shuttle train service  In particular, this applies to those of you going to tonight’s Golden State Warriors basketball game at Oracle Arena at 5pm.

Additional information on VTA bus and light rail service can be obtained by calling (408)321-2300 or by visiting the agency’s web site. More information on BART service can be obtained by calling (510)465-2278 or by visiting BART’s web site.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

More News Coming Up

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This coming week will feature stories on

  • Jarrett Walker’s Report on VTA bus and light rail services
  • Highlights and follow-up from our last group meeting in February
  • What’s going on with Envision San Jose and some of what our group brought up
  • VTA’s continued obsession with bringing BART into Silicon Valley

Stay tuned and stay safe when riding any bus or train.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

February 2016 Group Meeting Agenda

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Here is the meeting agenda and other details for our upcoming meeting February 23 at 6:00pm in San Jose
  • status on the Alum Rock Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project and what we can do to ensure it’s completed properly
  • how to report good (and bad) VTA bus/light rail operators, and early/late/no-show buses/light rail
  • an update on the likelyhood of another transit sales tax vote this fall
  • any other idea you want the group to pursue to make VTA run better and more efficient

Here is a map and directions showing how to get to the San Jose Peace and Justice Center. The Center is only one (1) block north of the San Jose State University campus.

Plan on driving to our meeting? There is limited FREE parking in the back of the Peace & Justice Center. There is also limited on-street parking nearby and at the Grocery Outlet lot on Santa Clara Street.

Can’t make it to our group meeting? You can dial in to our group meeting by calling (415)655-0001. When prompted, use PIN # 194 171 125 as the meeting number. Note that you must dial in after 5:55pm and that there is limited space.

Bring a pencil/pen and paper with you to our meeting for note taking. Also, be ready to start taking action on what we discuss.

See you next Tuesday. Please distribute this invitation to everyone where (legally) permitted. ALL ARE WELCOME!

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users