Tag: light rail

All-Star Hockey Weekend In San Jose

by  • 

2019 NHL All-Star Game rink setup. Photo courtesy San Jose Sharks.

Pro hockey’s brightest and best stars come to San Jose this weekend.  The 2019 NHL All-Star Weekend will take place in two locations throughout downtown San Jose. Hockey fan activities take place January 24 thru January 27 at McEnery Convention Center.  The 2019 NHL All-Star game itself takes place on January 26 at 5pm at SAP Center.

Visiting San Jose for All-Star Weekend? Read our first-time public transit rider’s guide to learn how to ride the buses and trains in Silicon Valley.  We have additional Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) public transit tips to help you beat traffic gridlock and parking woes to and from these All-Star events. Read on for more details.

Read more →

Here We Go Again…

by  • 

More service cuts to public transit may be coming to Silicon Valley.  The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will discuss a proposal to further reduce bus and light rail service at its first Board Of Directors’ meeting of 2019 this Thursday at 5:30pm in San Jose.

WHEN: Thursday, January 10 at 5:30pm
WHERE: Auditorium at VTA Headquarters, 3331 N. First Street, San Jose
GETTING THERE: Take VTA Light Rail to the River Oaks station.  VTA’s headquarters is on the west (airport) side of N. First Street, in the back of the Park and Ride lot.

Tips for how to be heard at any VTA Board meeting or workshop can be mastered here.

Our group has obtained details on what the VTA Board Of Directors will discuss at Thursday evening’s meeting. Details are below.

Read more →

Kiss Express Light Rail Goodbye In October

by  • 

vta express light rail train photo

VTA staff on hand to welcome the first express light rail train in October 2010. Photo courtesy vtawatch.blogspot.com

Nearly eight years after its introduction, express light rail trains in San Jose will be no more.  At its August 2nd meeting, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board Of Directors voted to end the express trains as of October 8 of this year.  The decision, according to VTA, is being done to save between $720,000 and $820,000 of operating expenses.

More details on the decision follow.

Read more →

“Next Network” Next Year

by  • 

Passengers boarding the VTA 181 express bus to Fremont BART station in downtown San Jose.

Bus and light rail restructuring throughout Santa Clara County has been put off until 2018.  The Silicon Valley Transit Users just received official word from VTA that the BART extension to Milpitas and Berryessa in San Jose has been moved until June 2018 due to “system integration and testing.”

The VTA Board of Directors received word of the BART extension delay from staff at the August 3 Board of Directors’ meeting in San Jose.  This means that the VTA “Next Network” transit restructuring has been moved until at least 2018.

More on this story follows…

Read more →

Next Network, Current Concerns

by  • 

Huge changes to your bus and light rail service in Santa Clara County will be discussed this week.  At Thursday evening’s VTA Board of Directors’ meeting, the Board members will further discuss what VTA staff proposed under the “Next Network” transit service restructuring proposal.

If you haven’t done so already, read up on VTA’s “Next Network” proposal.  Learn whether or not it may be made harder for you to reach your job, school, or doctor by public transit in Santa Clara County this fall.  This is especially true if you live in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Almaden Valley, or some parts of Palo Alto, Mountain View or Sunnyvale.  This is also true if you take any of the VTA express buses from Fremont, as they are proposed to be eliminated when BART opens in December.

Read more →