VTA carried 230,000 passengers across the six FIFA World Cup matches hosted in the Bay Area since last month, setting its all-time special event ridership record. The public transit agency also reported setting its single-event ridership record on June 25 for the match between Paraguay and Australia, when nearly 42,000 fans rode transit to and...
Local ride-share shuttle expands into North Santa Clara
Santa Clara residents and workers now have access to an on-demand shuttle service in the northern part of the city thanks to a regional effort to reduce car trips and improve transit connections. Silicon Valley Hopper has expanded its service into North Santa Clara as of July 1, allowing riders to travel throughout the city...
Bay Area public transit tax heads to November ballot
A highly touted Bay Area sales tax measure to fund public transit joins 14 other referendums that have qualified for the November election — and South Bay leaders said strong community support made it happen. The transit sales tax measure — which proposes a 0.5% increase in Santa Clara County — collected an estimated 241,964...
Rod Diridon memorial recalls Santa Clara County transit legend
Friends, family, politicians and members of the community remembered a pioneer who never gave up his dream for mass transit in Santa Clara County. Rod Diridon, Sr.’s wife Gloria Duffy said the event was a celebration of community and collaboration, because that’s who her husband was. His life was inspired by his upbringing at the...
Downtown parking fee hike riles local businesses
San Jose has delayed a decision on whether to increase downtown parking prices after widespread pushback from local businesses and workers. The measure would have increased rates for hundreds of parking meters in the downtown core from $2 an hour to a maximum of $4 an hour, and also extended the machine’s operating hours further...
Will Bay Area transit tax measure qualify for November ballot?
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,...