Category: Advocacy

Our (and other) transit advocacy efforts in Silicon Valley.

More News Coming Up

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I have personally been away on management training on my day job. It’s why things have not been updated in the timely manner you have expected over the last few months. There are a lot of things to talk about, in regard to

  • current BART Phase II (San Jose-Santa Clara)
  • Upcoming public meetings by VTA for input on YOU for its future
  • City of San Jose public meetings for input from YOU to help make Senter Rd. safer for bicycling, walking, and public transit use

and more, will be posted here, as soon as possible. Thank you, readers, for your patience at this time.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Super Bowl LVIII Local Party Transit Guide

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Super Bowl LVIII logo with San Francisco and Kansas City team logos on the left and right, respectively.
Image courtesy foxsports.com

The stage is set for Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII.  Can’t make it to the rematch of the Big Game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs?  There are local parties at bars, clubs, and restaurants throughout Santa Clara County – and beyond. Read on for more details.

Read more →

Help Advise VTA & San Jose On Public Transit

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Several people are seated aboard a VTA bus moving within the City of San Jose. Seats have grey backs. Camera faces front of bus.
Several people are seated aboard a VTA bus moving within the City of San Jose.

Diane Solomon, host and producer at KKUP-FM in San Jose, informed us of an opportunity for you to help make public transit better in San Jose. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is still looking for someone who lives or works in San Jose to serve as a voice for public transit on its Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC).

As a BPAC member, you will have the ear of key decision-makers at VTA at staff level.

You would representing the City of San Jose as a public transit rider, as a member of VTA’s BPAC. The city committee’s next meeting to discuss this is this coming Monday at 6pm.  More details on what is required for you to be a representative on this committee, follow.

Read more →

Keep Up the (State) Pressure

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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.

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.

Read more →