Category: Advocacy

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

Sweating Details At A Workshop

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This Friday morning promises to be an event for public transit in Silicon Valley. Then, in San Jose, members of the Valley Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors will discuss what will go into a proposed sales tax ballot measure in November. (Adobe Acrobat PDF Document)

Take any VTA bus, light rail or Caltrain? Learn how YOU are affected by the proposal by reading this article from Adina Levin of Green Caltrain.

The VTA Workshop will be webcast LIVE to the public starting at 9am on Friday.

EVENT: VTA Envision Silicon Valley Workshop
DATE & TIME: Friday, April 22nd at 9am
PLACE: VTA Headquarters, 3331 N. First Street, San Jose
GETTING THERE: VTA Headquarters is right next to the River Oaks light rail station.

If at all possible, join us to ensure VTA continues to build a proper transit system for everyone in Santa Clara County – including YOU.  Remember: it will be (more) sales tax money from YOU that will be spent on these transit projects.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

DISCLOSURE: Our group is one of the stakeholders of the Envision Silicon Valley effort.

VTA’s Incredible Shrinking Bus Ridership

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A bus ridership crisis at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has publicly reared its head. Gary Richards of the San Jose Mercury News reports on how VTA bus ridership has dropped 23% since 2001. Richards’ report details highlights of a presentation from worldwide transit planner Jarrett Walker detailing solutions to the bus ridership crisis.

More details on that story, the report, and what YOU can do follow after the jump.

Read more →

AUDIO: Silicon Valley’s Housing & Transit Crisis

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On March 31 in Mountain View, more than 40 people gathered at the Adobe House near the Mountain View Caltrain station. There, they heard Kim Mai-Cutler speak about the affordable housing and transit shortages currently affecting Silicon Valley.  The speech and gathering were organized by the Friends of Caltrain.

As you will hear in the recording above, some of the solutions discussed by Ms. Cutler and the audience, besides the need for additional, affordable housing, include:

  • Citizens must better educate themselves on who the decision-makers are at the city and transit (VTA) level, and lobby for improvements at both levels.
  • Citizens must also educate themselves on where the money goes at the local and state level NOW for housing and transportation. (A future blog post will have more on the transportation aspect of this.)
  • Citizens must realize that they cannot complain about increasing traffic and diminishing quality of life while blocking anything to improve both.

Please comment your own solutions to Silicon Valley’s affordable housing and transit shortage crisis below. Also, comment what YOU would be willing to do at the local government level to make such solutions happen.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Mountain View Solutions Meeting Tonight

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People will gather in Mountain View tonight to help solve Silicon Valley’s transportation and housing crisis.  The Friends of Caltrain will host an event to tackle these two vexing solutions more residents now face.  From the event invite:

How can Silicon Valley be so fast-moving when it comes to technology and so stuck when it comes to housing and transportation? Mountain View is now planning for housing in North Bayshore near Google, LinkedIn and Microsoft – how much will this help, and what else is needed?

Kim-Mai Cutler is the author of powerful and insightful articles in TechCrunch exploring the causes of the Bay Area’s housing and transportation conundrums. Come hear her explain how we got here, and explore ideas for change.

The event is co-sponsored by Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning, Balanced Mountain View, Sunnyvale Cool, Palo Alto Forward, Redwood City Forward, TransForm, Microsoft, LinkedIn.

TIME & DATE: TONIGHT 6:30pm
PLACE: Adobe House, 157 Moffett Blvd, Mountain View
GETTING THERE: Adobe House is 1/2 block (5 minute walk) from the Mountain View Transit Center and VTA light rail, Caltrain, and the 35 and 51 bus lines. It’s also a 5 minute walk from employee shuttle bus stops for Google, Yahoo, and others.

Click here to RSVP http://org.salsalabs.com/o/741/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=85391

Come early as the venue is expected to fill up quickly. See you tonight.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users