Tag: california

Keep Up the (State) Pressure

Protesters at a mock funeral for public transit in front of San Francisco City Hall June 3.

Current status of public transit in Governor Gavin Newsom’s state budget proposal: not good. Unfortunately, the most recent budget proposals voted on by the legislature currently do not provide nearly enough funding to meet the need to prevent transit cuts and regrow ridership. This would force transit agencies like Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain to choose between preventing service cuts and important capital priorities, and would abandon $6 billion ($6,000,000,000) in federal matching funds.

Senator Scott Wiener is working hard to address this situation. Here’s more from Senator Wiener:

Read our prior article on this situation for further background.

Next, read more on what YOU can do between now and Monday to help Senator Wiener and others change that.

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

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.

BEATING TRAFFIC: Transit To Today’s Big Games

photo courtesy gostanford.com

The Big Game is at Stanford Stadium today – pandemic and all. At 4pm today, Stanford hosts Cal in the annual Big Game for The Axe at Stanford Stadium at 4pm.

Our transit guide to Stanford Stadium details Caltrain, VTA rapid bus, and SamTrans bus options to and from today’s Big Game.

Meanwhile, in San Jose, there is a pro hockey doubleheader today. At 1:15pm face-off time, the San Jose Barracuda host the San Diego Gulls in AHL action. Afterward, at 7:30pm, the San Jose Sharks host the Washington Capitals in NHL action.

Our transit guide to SAP Center mentions VTA bus, light rail, and Caltrain transit options to and from the games.

When used, all of these bus and rail options help you beat traffic, parking headaches, and potential road rage incidents to and from the games.

Not sure how to ride and pay fare on VTA buses or light rail? There’s a guide for that, too.

Have a nice day, and stay safe. More tomorrow…

Eugene Bradley
Founder & CEO, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Coming Together In Cupertino

Moderator and four panelists at last Sunday’s Regional Planning Forum in Cupertino, where our group met.

Silicon Valley’s housing and traffic crises are already well documented.  Our group gathered in Cupertino last Sunday to discover and hear what can be done to resolve these crises.  The four panelists at last Sunday’s Regional Planning Forum in Cupertino were:

  • Kansen Chu, 25th Assembly Member, California State Assembly
  • “Chappie” Jones, San Jose City Council Member
  • Richard Bernhardt, CEO of Bernhardt Communications and Strategy
  • Tom DuBois, Palo Alto City Council Member

Part 1 of the Regional Planning Forum can be viewed below:

Part 2 of the Regional Planning Forum (the Question and Answer portion) can be viewed below:

A special Thank You goes to Better Cupertino for hosting this forum.  Please view both videos above.  You will learn some things from both videos.

After viewing both videos in full, please share your thoughts on what needs to be done to address Silicon Valley’s traffic and housing problems.  Also, indicate what YOU are willing to do to help solve these issues.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users