Eugene B

September VTA Meeting Summary…With a Feeling

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Last month, I wanted to experiment with providing a brief summary of a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board Of Directors meeting.  Your feedback demanded more information be provided for such summaries.  So, in the future, more detail will be provided for such summaries.

That said, the September 7 VTA Board Of Directors Meeting and follow-up workshops revealed a potential conflict of interest in a formed sales tax measure watchdog group. They also confirmed routing for two bus lines, once the BART extension to Milpitas and Berryessa comes online.  Finally, conflict was revealed between VTA and BART over how a tunnel for BART in downtown San Jose should be built.

Detailed information on all of this (in chronological order) is below.

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Next Group Meeting In October

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Due to lack of interest, our next live group meeting will be in late October.  Please stay tuned for additional details.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

P.S. There is a revised update regarding the September VTA Board meeting that will be posted soon.  I am currently awaiting additional information.

Summary Of Last Night’s VTA Board Meeting

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Last night’s VTA Board Of Directors’ meeting featured the following:

  • More information on Phase II of the BART extension from Berryessa to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara.
  • The VTA Board approved a staff proposal on having the temporary 500 bus line use San Fernando St. instead of Santa Clara Street, and improving the 45 bus line, which was originally proposed to be eliminated.

Also, Roland LeBrun of San Jose noted some conflicts of interest as the VTA Board approved members of the 2016 Measure B Citizens Advisory Committee.

Download and view the VTA Board meeting in its entirety. (Video is in Microsoft Windows Media Video format.)

What is your perspective on tonight’s VTA Board meeting? Please discuss in the comments below.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Measure “B” Blocked Again

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Santa Clara County Superior Court House. Courtesy Wikipedia.

It could be months – or years – before money for transit and road projects promised to voters in 2016 come to fruition – if at all.  The August 28 edition of the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported that a lawsuit was filed that blocked all Measure B spending.  This included spending for extending BART into downtown San Jose, pothole repairs, and other transportation projects.

More on this matter – and how it affects Measure B – follow below.

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We Meet This Thursday

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Among what we will discuss at our upcoming meeting on Thursday at 6pm in San Jose:

  • How we can address VTA’s shortage of buses throughout the county
  • VTA’s street improvement projects on Bascom Ave., Tasman Dr. and Story/Keyes Avenues – and what we can push for

Have anything else transit-related that we should be fighting for? Please address it at our meeting, BEFORE the agenda items listed.  (Otherwise, you will have to wait until the end of the meeting to address your particular item.)  Be prepared to discuss how YOU would help make it happen.

We meet at the San Jose Peace & Justice Center, 48 S. 7th Street in San Jose. Transit and driving directions to the Peace and Justice Center are found here.

Note that if you plan on driving to our meeting, there is limited parking in the back.  Also, do not park in the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market parking lot across the street – you will be towed at your expense.

Can’t make it to our group meeting in San Jose? You can join us via dial-in at 5:55pm. Info is as follows:

  1. Call 1(415)655-0001
  2. When prompted for the “meeting pin number,” enter 190809846
  3. When told that “You have joined the Conference” and after hearing that this is the Silicon Valley Transit Users meeting, please give your name and where you live.

See you on Thursday. We have much to talk about and fight for.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users