Silicon Valley Transit Users

Were YOU at our last meeting April 30 in San Jose? If not, here’s what you missed:

We learned from Sharon Webster of Palo Alto (who called on thru the new WebEx call-in number) on the fact that the Palo Alto Transit Center has become a “de facto shelter for the homeless.” These are symptoms of a larger issue whose solutions have been documented.

We are part of the “Envision Silicon Valley” effort by VTA to help create a sales tax measure for later this year. Judy Purrington of San Jose (who represented us on that committee) presented some draft “performance metrics” that may be used in the sales tax vote effort.

I had shared notes from the prior VTA Board of Directors meeting on April 2 that VTA security had just dealt with a light rail crime wave between the Ohlone-Chynoweth and Cottle stations. Hence, we all need to be careful out there.

ALso, I provided an update on how people fought successfully in Mountain View to have dedicated bus lanes along El Camino Real in the city.

Finally, Sharon noted that a friend of hers was recently assaulted on the 22 bus line. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s department caught her assailants. This is part of n occurring crime wave on transit that will be written about in a future blog post.

Overall, our last group meeting went very well.  Online advertising thru Twitter and Facebook will be done later (about 2 weeks before) to gain more attendance.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users