Category: Advocacy

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

They All Did Good At Super Bowl 50

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Super Bowl 50 crowd goes to VTA light rail after the game has ended.

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…

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One Wish For VTA For Super Bowl 50

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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

History Repeats In Alum Rock

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Bus Rapid Transit build at Alum Rock/Jackson in May 2015. Courtesy Google Maps

Bus Rapid Transit build at Alum Rock/Jackson in May 2015. Courtesy Google Maps.

There goes the Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) record of having projects built on-time and on-budget. By now, you’ve probably heard the news about how construction delays along Alum Rock Avenue in San Jose have delayed the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project until Summer 2016.

More on this issue – and how it parallels a past transit project in San Jose – follows.

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Last Chance To Speak Up This Month

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Your input is still needed to craft a possible ballot measure in 2016. Today at 2:30pm in Gilroy, TransForm (a group we work with) is hosting the first of several forums designed to gather input on what YOU would like to see in a possible transportation ballot measure in 2016.

The last of these meetings takes place this evening from 6pm to 8:30pm at the Mexican Heritage Plaza at 1700 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose. VTA’s 22, 23, 77 and 522 Rapid bus lines serve the Mexican Heritage Plaza. RSVP for this last meeting this evening.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Disclosure: Our group is also part of the Envision Silicon Valley group that is putting together a possible transit sales tax measure in Santa Clara County is 2016.

Fighting For Better On Many Fronts

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Last week featured a lot of meetings, mishaps, and calls for action in the quest to improve public transit in Silicon Valley. All in a quest to make Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) buses and light rail a more viable alternative to driving. From community meetings in the Alum Rock section of San Jose, to a city council meeting in Sunnyvale, to our own group meeting in San Jose, here are details on what happened last week as “catch-up” material.

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