Transit advocates say they’ve surpassed their signature-gathering goal to put a sales tax on the November ballot, which would raise $1 billion annually for public transit service across five Bay Area counties and could save some stations from closure. Representatives for the Connect Bay Area campaign on Tuesday said canvassers gathered nearly 306,000 signatures — roughly 120,000...
San Jose truck company loses eminent domain case
A commercial truck company based in San Jose has lost its bid to gain additional compensation from VTA in an eminent domain case stemming from the planned BART extension project through Silicon Valley. Monarch Truck Center executives have argued their business has been severely harmed following its forced relocation two years ago. But after a weeks-long...
Waymo driverless cars are coming to the West Valley
Driverless vehicles will soon be a more common sight in the West Valley as autonomous ride-sharing company Waymo expands into the region — leaving local officials grappling with concerns about safety and transit impacts. Waymo will begin operating in West Valley cities such as Cupertino and Campbell in the coming weeks, as well as Willow...
VTA touts spending plan for possible Bay Area sales tax increase
South Bay transportation leaders aren’t waiting for the November election to draft a wishlist of projects to make car-less commuting more bearable. But it depends entirely on voters passing a regional sales tax increase — and saving the Bay Area from transit station closures. The sales tax measure — which proposes a 0.5% increase in...
Rod Diridon remembered as Santa Clara County transit pioneer
If the state of California was a person, its name would be Rod Diridon Sr., who will be remembered as the “father” of Santa Clara County’s modern transit system. He died Friday at age 87. Diridon succumbed to sepsis and an underlying cancer of the thorax. He had been hospitalized for more than two weeks,...
VTA could block ICE from using its properties
Property owned by a local public transit agency may become the latest territory federal immigration agents are blocked from using in Santa Clara County. VTA’s board of directors on Thursday asked staff to explore a policy to prohibit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity on property it owns, including parking lots, and to continue...
San Jose airport unaffected by TSA lines or ICE
As travelers experience chaos, lines trailing around terminals and federal immigration agents in major airports across the country, San Jose Mineta International Airport remains calm and void of agents. Travelers breezed through security lines in San Jose Monday as President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to more than a dozen major airports, including Houston’s...
Santa Clara adopts safety plan to reduce traffic fatalities
Santa Clara has joined a growing number of Bay Area cities pursuing policies aimed at eliminating traffic deaths. The Santa Clara City Council voted early Wednesday morning to adopt the city’s Vision Zero plan, committing to a strategy to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries on local roads. City officials decided to implement the plan...
San Jose company takes VTA to court over eminent domain
A commercial truck company based in San Jose is taking VTA to court, two years after the public transit agency forced the business to move off a site slated for use in the planned BART extension project through Silicon Valley. Monarch Truck Center, a full service medium duty truck dealership, had operated at 195 N. 30th St....
Super Bowl sets South Bay public transit ridership record
Public transit ridership to and from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara for the Super Bowl hit an all-time high with 30,000 trips — although not without a few bumps along the way. VTA tallied 28,000 light rail trips and 2,600 bus rides for the big game, which the National Football League said drew 70,823 people....