Our (and other) transit advocacy efforts in Silicon Valley.
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.
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:
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
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
Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara is now history. Congratulations to the Denver Broncos for winning Super Bowl 50 last Sunday over Carolina by a score of 24-10.
A big “Thank You” goes to BART, Caltrain and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for providing public transit to and from Super Bowl 50. VTA carried 9,500 fans to and from Super Bowl 50. Of that number, 60% of them transferred from light rail to Caltrain in Mountain View, according to Mass Transit Magazine.
Here’s how those who took VTA and Caltrain saw Super Bowl 50…
Super Bowl Sunday is NOW. I just made my first video commentary on what VTA must do at Super Bowl 50 to ensure a possible transit sales pass this fall passes. I also describe the consequences for VTA if things seriously go wrong at their end.
This same commentary was given at last Thursday’s VTA Board of Directors meeting in San Jose. More on that meeting in an upcoming post.
Let’s hope that VTA and especially the NFL has learned from the transit nightmare of Super Bowl XLVIII.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users