Ride Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Dumbarton Express, or SamTrans buses to the Palo Alto Transit Center? Due to a pavement repair project on University Circle, the Palo Alto Transit Center will be closed from August 8 at 4am until September 22.
Learn how YOU will be affected by the Transit Center’s temporary closure below.
On behalf of our group, I want to wish you a Happy (and safe) Thanksgiving.
Want to help make public transportation in Santa County better for everyone? Please join us on Tuesday, November 29 for our last meeting of 2016. At our last meeting for 2016, we will discuss:
TIME & DATE: Tuesday, November 29 at 6pm SHARP
PLACE: San Jose Peace and Justice Center, 48 S. 7th Street, San Jose
GETTING THERE: It’s about 50 yards south of E. Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose, and near many VTA bus lines like the 22, 64, 522 Rapid, 72 and 73. It’s also a short walk from the Santa Clara (Street) light rail stop. Here is a map of the area around the Peace and Justice Center in downtown San Jose.
Bring a pencil or pen and paper so you can take down notes on what to do.
Approving sales tax ballot measures every few years to improve transit is never enough. Whining from behind your keyboard changes nothing. Better only happens when we learn TOGETHER and fight TOGETHER in person.
Power to the people. See you on Tuesday.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users
One week after Measure B’s passage, more bus service reductions in Santa Clara County are being discussed. At a workshop today in San Jose, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will propose to staff “an “85/15 balance between ridership-purposed and coverage-purposed services.” What this could potentially mean:
If VTA pursues a more ridership-purposed transit network, routes that would be leading candidates to be decreased or discontinued are coverage-purposed routes located in the low density areas of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, Gilroy and the Almaden Valley, East Hills and Evergreen areas of San Jose. Some of the riders in these areas depend on VTA for transportation and VTA is exploring alternatives to retain their mobility while lowering the per-ride subsidy that VTA currently pays, which generally ranges from double to triple the system-wide average per-ride subsidy.
Where VTA’s “Next Network” workshop will be held:
TIME & DATE: November 18 at 2:00pm
PLACE: VTA Auditorium at VTA’s River Oaks headquarters, 3331 N. First Street, San Jose
GETTING THERE: VTA’s headquarters is across the street from River Oaks light rail station. It is also served bh the 58 bus line.
Special thanks to @CALHSR on Twitter for informing our group of this news item.
https://twitter.com/CALHSR/status/799401608622682112
More information on VTA’s proposal will be posted this weekend.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users
At this time, our group is still discussing our stance on VTA’s Measure B – a 1/2-cent transportation sales tax proposal on the November 8 ballot. This discussion is taking place on our email list and our Facebook page.
To help you decide whether or not you should support or oppose Measure B, here is the full ballot text of Measure B, as VTA sent it to the County Registrar. In addition, here are the Attachments A thru D mentioning the proposed projects in the ballot measure.
Also, here are details on where your money on prior VTA transportation sales taxes went. This Mountain View Voice article from 2014 shows how nearly 80% of the $4.2 billion of your money from the last two ballot measures (2000 and 2008) went to the BART extension to Berryessa in San Jose. In addition, this Palo Alto Daily Post article from 2014 details how VTA’s spending of your money affected Caltrain and, to an extent, bus service throughout Santa Clara County, since 2000. For your reference, here’s the ballot text for 2000 Measure A and 2008 Measure B. For balance, here’s VTA’s “report card” of projects built with your tax money from 2000 Measure A. (A separate article on how your money was spent from 2000 Measure A is upcoming.)
The Mercury News has already endorsed Measure B. Here’s a counterpoint on why to vote against Measure B.
Based on the information given above, would you support or oppose Measure B? Our Measure B stance – and why that stance will be taken – will be announced this week.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users
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