Key events occurred at the December 5, 2019 Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board Of Directors’ meeting. County Supervisor Cindy Chavez was elected Board Chair for 2020. By an 8-4 vote, Sunnyvale City Council Member Glenn Hendricks was elected Board Vice-Chair for 2020. The press for public disclosure of things continued, and more.
Read on for more of what happened at this Board meeting…
Here we go again. On November 8, Santa Clara County voters will once again decide a transportation sales tax measure for Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).
Remember the slogans of prior transportation sales tax measures in Santa Clara County? “A + B = Traffic Relief” (1996) and “Traffic Relief NOW” (2000) are some examples. Ask yourself: is access, speed, and reliability of public transit better than what it was when I was asked to approve a transit sales tax measure? Is traffic more or less than what it was the last time I was asked to approve a transportation sales tax?
Read on for information that supplements what’s already out there on why you need to vote NO on Measure B November 8.
Long-term planning or ballot measure publicity stunt? This question will be answered on Wednesday in San Jose, as the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has a “Strategic Plan update” meeting in room B106 at its River Oaks headquarters.
VTA’s headquarters are at 3331 N. First Street in San Jose. It’s served by the 58 bus line and is at River Oaks light rail station.
Read the VTA Strategic Plan (10.9MB Adobe Acrobat PDF) here.
One thing that stands out in the plan so far: how VTA running transit (bus and light rail) service while building toll lane/highway “improvement” projects contradict one another. Is VTA supposed to help get people “out of their cars and onto transit” or is VTA supposed to keep people in their cars? VTA is one of the few agencies in the nation where road building and transit providing are performed by the same agency.
What do YOU think about VTA’s Strategic Plan update? What would you have VTA do differently to make it more efficient and beneficial to every Santa Clara County resident?
I’ll be at this meeting on Wednesday. See you there.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users
The first of the debates for Measure B took place on Monday. At the Santa Clara County Democratic Club at Harry’s Hofbrau in San Jose, both sides debated Measure B – VTA’s latest transportation sales tax proposal. Santa Clara County Supervisor and current VTA Board Chair Cindy Chavez debated the for side. Gladwyn D’Souza, San Carlos Belmont Group Chair at Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta Chapter, debated the against side.
Who do YOU think won last night’s Measure B debate? Please comment below.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users