Category: News

September VTA Meeting Summary…With a Feeling

by Eugene B • October 4, 2017

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.

by Eugene B • September 8, 2017

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

by Eugene B • August 31, 2017

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.

by Eugene B • August 13, 2017

Per reader request, a local transit events calendar has now been installed on the web site. The calendar will help list public transit, bike/pedestrian, and paratransit events and meetings hosted by other citizen groups throughout Silicon Valley. This will include our own live group meetings.

Examples of entries already present in the events calendar:

SamTrans Dumbarton Corridor public meetings in Union City and East Palo Alto this Tuesday and Wednesday
Public transit discussion in San Jose with the U.S. Attorney General for the San Francisco Bay Area

In the future, the Event Calendar will also include Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)-hosted public workshops and public meetings.

Hear about a public transit, bicycle/pedestrian, or paratransit meeting or event in Santa Clara County or San Mateo County? Please let us know at least 7 days in advance of the event so that it can be added to the event calendar.

One more thing: there have been reports of people not receiving confirmation email when subscribing to new posts or comments. When you initially subscribe to be notified of new posts or comments to posts, please check your “Junk Mail,” “Junk E-Mail” or “SPAM” folders for the confirmation email. That confirmation email is sent to ensure your email address is not being abused in any manner. Click the URL link in the confirmation email to confirm your subscription; otherwise, ignore and delete the confirmation email.

Enjoy the rest of this big Bay Area concert weekend safely and sanely.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

“Next Network” Next Year

by Eugene B • August 10, 2017

Passengers boarding the VTA 181 express bus to Fremont BART station in downtown San Jose.

Bus and light rail restructuring throughout Santa Clara County has been put off until 2018. The Silicon Valley Transit Users just received official word from VTA that the BART extension to Milpitas and Berryessa in San Jose has been moved until June 2018 due to “system integration and testing.”

The VTA Board of Directors received word of the BART extension delay from staff at the August 3 Board of Directors’ meeting in San Jose. This means that the VTA “Next Network” transit restructuring has been moved until at least 2018.