Tag: Santa Clara County

Issues affecting all of Santa Clara County.

Transit Options To July 4 Fireworks

July 4, 2022 Fireworks Schedule
July 4, 2022 Fireworks Schedule. Courtesy County Supervisor Joe Simitian.

As Santa Clara County – and our nation – still slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, more public events are returning. As you can see from the poster above, public July 4 fireworks shows are one such event. Many transit agencies serving Silicon Valley, such as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Caltrain, and BART, will be running a Sunday/Holiday Schedule on Monday, July 4.

An Audit Instead Of Reform

people boarding VTA's 60 bus in santa clara
People boarding VTA’s 60 bus in Santa Clara.

Efforts to provide much-needed governance reform at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) via the California State Legislature have been tabled. We learned via a San Jose Spotlight story on Tuesday that State Assembly Member Marc Berman and VTA Board Chair (and San Jose Vice Mayor) Charles “Chappie” Jones worked out a deal that would see VTA undergo a state audit of its governance structure.

As a supporter of AB 2181 – the VTA Governance Reform proposal – this news came as no surprise to me. Especially how some cities in Santa Clara County expressed fear of potential changes in VTA governance.

Ultimately, I feel a state-level audit of VTA’s governance is long overdue. If VTA, its staff, and current Board Of Directors have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear. Here’s more on why our group continues to support governance reform at VTA – and why you should, too. Let’s wait and see the results of that state audit, and provide input to help make that state audit happen, as needed.

Eugene Bradley
Founder & CEO, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Sunday Funday In Downtown San Jose

Video highlights of the Viva Calle San Jose event on May 1.

Major streets in, west of, and north of downtown San Jose will only be open to pedestrians and bicyclists today. From 10am-3pm today, Viva Calle San Jose takes place.

Information on public transit to and from this event – and how your service will be affected – is below.

Status Quo Fears Change

Video of the June 2, 2022 VTA Board Of Directors’ meeting.

Last Thursday’s Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Board Of Directors‘ meeting had some interesting actions approved. The last of the actions approved should not come as a surprise to those who have followed us since 2001.