Site Policy

Table of Contents

• Site Policy Basics
• What Your Post Should Talk About
• Weblog Post and Comment Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Conclusion

Site Policy Basics

Below is our site policy for posting weblog updates and for commenting on posts made here. This page will change often to reflect current site policy. Please bookmark this page and read it before you submit a weblog post or comment.

This site policy is based on similar policies for blog-based sites around the world.

Weblog posts are defined as articles written on this site talking about a public transportation topic within and affecting Silicon Valley. Comments are defined as responses made to weblog posts on this site.

By submitting a weblog post update or submitting a comment here, you accept IN FULL the terms of our site policy, as detailed below.

What Your Post Should Talk About

Your weblog post should talk about a quality of service and/or financing issue affecting one or more of the following public transit agencies serving Silicon Valley:

• Santa Clara Valley Transportation (VTA) – including light rail and the Highway 17 Express Bus, as well as OUTREACH Paratransit
• Caltrain
• Altamont Commuter Express (ACE)
• Monterey-Salinas Transit express bus service between San Jose/Gilroy and Monterey
• Any bicycle or pedestrian issue in Santa Clara County

For your Weblog post here, use the built-in online editor, which requires a login and password for this site to access.

For longer posts, please include an “Insert More” or “More…” tag after the first paragraph. This allows room for other posts as needed.

In your weblog post, spell out the full details of the issue(s) in question, and what the reader should do to resolve the issue. One example for resolving an issue may be to contact the public officials or other transit decision makers found in the Lobbying menu.

You are strongly encouraged to include photos, maps or embedded video in your weblog update. Please make sure the content is NOT copyrighted (that is, the information  has your explicit permission to use) or your weblog post will be rejected.

Weblog posts or comments that do not talk about the topic(s) stated above will be rejected.

Please let us know if you are interested in helping to update this site via weblog posts. Include in your email what you want to write about, and any prior weblog experience. Experience with WordPress is a plus, but training can be provided as needed.

Weblog Post and Comment Policy

Weblog post updates indicating an official position of the Silicon Valley Transit Users will be explicitly indicated as such in a weblog post. Otherwise, all posts and comments are the sole opinion and legal responsibility of the author.

All comments for posts here are filtered for spam and are moderated. This is why your comments will often NOT appear right away after you submit them.

Comments also get logged internally with your Internet Protocol (IP) address with the exact date and time you initially submitted your comment. This information is NOT given out to anyone without legal, written permission.

There must be NO PERSONAL ATTACKS of any kind to anyone for any reason in your weblog post or comment.  This includes, but is not limited to, comments towards anyone or any organization featuring

• false, misleading or defamatory information
• insults, threats or other abuse
• obscene, sexually-based comments
• offensive or discriminatory comments based on race, age, sex, social status, or religion

This site is designed to inform others on public transit issues affecting Silicon Valley and to promote civil dialogue on solutions.  Any personal attack found in your weblog post will cause your post to be immediately rejected.

When mentioning statistics or information from a copyrighted article, please include a brief description of the information and the URL (web address) it comes from as a link.

Any weblog post or comment that contains the full text of an entire published or copyrighted article will be rejected.

Any weblog post or comment that contains links to spyware, malware, pornography or illegal download sites will be rejected.

No anonymous posting of any kind will be allowed. This increases the credibility of our site, as well as what is being posted and the information presented. This includes pretending to be someone you are not in real life, and pretending to be connected to a story or topic here when you are not (and vice versa). If you are connected to a story or topic mentioned here in any way, please disclose your connection to the story or topic; if legally required to do so, do not comment at all.

Remember: what is posted and commented on here becomes accessible for anyone with Internet access to read throughout the world. Please make your comment(s) and solution(s) clear such that those who might not understand public transit operations, funding or policies can easily understand these topics.

Cookie Policy

While the site does NOT use cookies internally (as of September 13, 2018) we occasionally link to or display content from sites with tracking cookies.  We are NOT responsible for the content of these sites.

In the future, should our site choose to implement cookies, they will be listed here, and you will be given the option to accept or reject these cookies as needed.

Conclusion

If you are not comfortable with any portion of our site policy, please do not provide weblog posts and do not comment on weblog posts here.