Mallon: Best way to honor Santa Clara County transit icon — keep building

For generations, the late Rod Dirdon has been synonymous with transit in Santa Clara County. He’s had a greater impact on transit in the area than anyone else and has touched so many of us.

I first met Rod in 2019, when I was just starting to get involved in transit advocacy. I met him at none other than Diridon Station, just before the climate strike and march to San Jose City Hall, as I was doing a TV interview. We talked about advocacy and our work. At the time, I was advocating for more transit service in Santa Clara County, when ridership was down, support was low and getting more service seemed impossible.

Rod didn’t agree. He told me that earlier plans called for increased bus service and a fleet of 1,000 buses. He said I needed to advocate for an official plan for what I wanted and inclusion in the next Valley Transportation Plan update.

I slowly started to get more organized and build more support, and get support. It wasn’t easy, and it didn’t come without forceful opposition, but Rod always reminded me to stay persistent, and I did.  I slowly started to gain more traction.

Then the pandemic hit and disrupted everything. Ridership and revenue dropped overnight, and like many other transit supporters, my focus shifted to preventing transit cuts. I remember feeling so discouraged. I called Rod many times, not knowing what to do. He would always say to keep going. Even in the darkest moments, he still believed in transit and would talk at length about the benefits of transit and how we needed to finish California high-speed rail.

And so I kept going, and after some setbacks and challenges, VTA ultimately became one of the first major bus agencies to restore service and recover ridership. Then it was time to start planning for the future again, which Rod never stopped doing.

Over a few years, with extensive community input, VTA developed the visionary transit network. A bold plan to significantly increase transit service and ridership in Santa Clara County. The plan was unanimously approved by the VTA Board in June 2023, and then, as Rod would often say, it was time for the real work to begin. Actually making it happen.

We’re in the midst of that now and other transit initiatives Rod has long championed, including California high-speed rail and the BART extension. He’ll never get to see those opening days and milestones, and he knew that in the later years, but that didn’t stop him from advocating. As a young person, it was so powerful to see someone believe in things they would never personally benefit from or get to see.

As we move forward, that may be one of Rod Diridon’s greatest lessons: transit work is bigger than any one person. It is about believing in a future you may never see and always moving forward one step at a time.

Rod spent almost his entire lifetime doing exactly that for Santa Clara County. Generations of riders and residents will benefit from the transit systems he fought for, the ideas he pushed and the persistence he modeled. I know I will.

The best way to honor him is not only to remember what he accomplished, but also to keep building, advocating, planning and believing better transit is possible. That is the legacy Rod leaves behind, and the one now entrusted to the rest of us to carry on.

San José Spotlight columnist Monica Mallon is a transit advocate and rider in Santa Clara County. Mallon’s columns appear on the first Thursday of every other month. Contact Mallon at [email protected] or follow @MonicaMallon on X/Twitter.