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Transit Strike Update – 3/25/2025

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VTA Mountain View light rail platform, looking north, from the southern end of the platform. Shows empty platform indicating no light rail service at this time.
Empty Mountain View VTA light rail platform.

The Silicon Valley Public Transit Strike of 2025 enters its third week. Last Sunday, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) proposed a new labor agreement for striking workers representing the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265. This proposal was given at a special Board Of Directors’ meeting Sunday morning.

Per NBC Bay Area, about 100,000 transit riders are affected by this strike, which started March 10. Also reported: VTA mentioned they were losing $70,000 per day in lost fares as a result of the strike.

San Jose Spotlight described details of VTA’s proposal:

The VTA Board of Directors approved the revised offer in a special meeting Sunday. It included a 11% raise over the next three years, going up 4%, another 4% and 3%. It included updates to the conflict resolution process for workers filing a grievance, before going to a neutral third party. But it also introduced other contract changes, such as reducing overtime.

Yesterday (Monday) morning, 83% of ATU Local 265 members rejected the proposal. Per Rajvinder Singh, President and Business Agent at ATU Local 265, sticking points are overtime pay, and the need for a “no retaliation” guarantee for all striking employees – including probationary employees.

Both VTA and ATU Local 265 will be in a court hearing on Wednesday. That hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court will determine VTA’s legal request to end the strike.

Meanwhile, VTA has offered strike-affected riders $5 vouchers for their rideshare trips from 7am-10pm between VTA stops.

What are your thoughts and ideas on labor negotiations, and VTA’s $5 voucher for rideshare? Please comment and suggest.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Transit Alternatives To the VTA Strike

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Picket signs say "ATU Local 265 on strike against VTA" in black and white. Source: ATU Local 265
Strike picket signs. Source: ATU Local 265

Bus and light rail service in Santa Clara County remains suspended indefinitely. This is due to a strike by workers who are members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265 over wages, benefits, and arbitration. See our prior update over what they are on strike against the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) over – a strike which began on Monday at 12:01am.

The strike does NOT affect ACCESS Paratransit service. The service is run by a private company on another contract.

Following is a list of commuter rail, community shuttles, and rideshare services within Santa Clara County that are alternates to suspended VTA bus and light rail service. Be advised: some of these services require premium fare, have age minimums, and have limited service range and hours. With rideshare services, they also require advance reservations before riding.

Read more →

TAKE ACTION! Ensure Public Transit Stays In the State Budget Proposal

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Riders boarding Caltrain in Mountain View station. Front of the train is on the right, with its lights on. Passengers boarding and alighting are on the left.
Riders boarding Caltrain in Mountain View.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest state budget proposal cuts funding for public transit. If passed into law in June, it would result in fare hikes and service reductions for many transit agencies throughout California. This as several key Bay Area transit agencies like Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain struggle to regain pre-COVID pandemic ridership. This also occurs as many public transit agencies are running out of federal COVID relief funding to run their buses and trains.

Our group is part of a coalition to have the California State Legislature pass “gap” funding in the State Budget until public transit agencies pass their own operations funding means.

Read more on what’s going on, and how YOU can get involved.

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April Showers (Of Service Increases)

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Passengers boarding a white and blue VTA 68 bus heading to Gilroy, in downtown San Jose.
People boarding VTA’s 68 bus in downtown San Jose.

On April 24, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) made several service changes to increase bus and light rail service throughout Santa Clara County. Read more about these changes here.

Key notes on the April 24 service changes:

  • Going to the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill? The 568 Rapid bus no longer serves the Morgan Hill Caltrain station. Instead the bus will stay on Monterey Hwy. thru downtown Morgan Hill. The stop now shares the 68’s bus stop on Monterey/3rd, a 10 minute walk to the Courthouse on 301 Diana Ave.
  • On weekends, the 27 bus no longer serves downtown Los Gatos due to area traffic and resulting delays. Those normally taking the bus to downtown Los Gatos. Bus stops for downtown Los Gatos on weekends will be Santa Cruz/Los Gatos-Saratoga (EB to Kaiser SJ), and Los Gatos-Saratoga/University (WB to Winchester LRT station).
  • Also, VTA still does not have enough light rail operators to run light rail at 15-minute frequencies on weekends. This will change as bus drivers apply to become light rail operators throughout the year. VTA is still hiring bus operators; here’s how to apply for a bus operator job.

What are your thoughts and feelings on today’s service increases? Please comment and suggest below.

More later this week. Meanwhile, have a nice day and stay safe.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Heavy Rain & Winds May Delay Transit

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Source: ABC 7 News Bay Area on Twitter

Severe rain and high winds are forecast for Silicon Valley today and tomorrow. Because of this, if you must travel, allow extra time for your commute. Especially if you ride Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) buses and light rail.

Based on events during recent storms, be prepared for delays of at least 20 minutes on BART, ACE Trains, and Caltrain. Also, be prepared for delays of at least 15 minutes on SamTrans bus service as well as all VTA bus and light rail service. They may need to traverse and detour around flooded streets and downed trees this week.

If at all possible, please stay home. Here’s how to report flooding you see in your part of Santa Clara County. Do you need to find warmer shelter? Here’s a list of warming centers throughout Santa Clara County. Other Warming Centers in Santa Clara County are also in county libraries. Many of these Warming Centers are near VTA bus and light rail lines. We’ll alert you when we learn from VTA whether or not they will offer free transit rides to and from these Warming Centers.

If you must travel, be careful when riding public transit. We have a guide that shows you how to ride public transit in wet weather.

Follow @svtransitupdts on Twitter for the latest public transit updates and tips this week. Here’s how to keep us and others updated on our Twitter feed.

Listen to your local television or radio news for the latest updates on the storms this week.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users