The Valley Transit Authority will move forward with its plan to force out the owners and tenants of two buildings in downtown San Jose to make room for the future BART extension. In a meeting this week, VTA’s board of directors voted to allow the agency to assume ownership of the buildings on East Santa...
San Jose on track to beat record traffic deaths
San Jose marked its 60th vehicle fatality last month when a man crashed his car into a property on Santa Teresa Boulevard — a record high for the city. And the year isn’t over. City officials are scrambling to curb the number of traffic fatalities and plan next year to prioritize traffic safety near schools and launch...
San Jose commuters left waiting as VTA fleet falls apart
San Jose resident Greg rides VTA bus route 73 to his job at a local winery. Last week, the bus never showed. “It’s frustrating when the bus doesn’t come because I have to go home to get my parents to take me to work,” Greg, who declined to share his last name, told San José Spotlight....
San Jose airport expects travel bump over Thanksgiving holiday
San Jose leaders are cautiously optimistic an uptick in air travel over the Thanksgiving holiday is a sign the local airline industry—and by extension, the economy—is rebounding from COVID-19. The Mineta San Jose International Airport predicts about 438,000 passengers will pass through its doors over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. According to airport data, 73,862 passengers...
San Jose BART extension could grab land from property owners
Jose Landin has co-owned Mexico Bakery’s downtown location since 2003, and the chain has become a staple of San Jose’s foodie scene. But this beloved location—and several of Landin’s neighbors—could all be gone soon. That’s because VTA plans to build a ventilation system and emergency exit for the forthcoming downtown San Jose BART station on the...
Will San Jose OK mayor’s last overseas trip?
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo will likely be on another continent when voters decide who will replace him next month. On Wednesday, the city Rules and Open Government committee approved Liccardo’s travel request to Egypt from Nov. 4-12. He’s flying on his own dime to the U.N. Climate Change Conference to speak about San Jose’s innovative...
UPDATE: San Jose looks to count RV dwellers
San Jose is closer to counting how many residents living in RVs are lining city streets and creeks. A proposal to tally the city’s RV dwellers passed unanimously at Wednesday’s Rules and Open Government committee meeting. The timeline and cost for the RV count will go back to the committee in three to four weeks...
Report raises questions about integrating Bay Area public transit
Bay Area transit agencies are making slow but steady progress toward a seamless system that puts users first. That’s according to a recent report—authored by Seamless Bay Area, SPUR, Bay Area Council, TransForm, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Joint Venture Silicon Valley—that examines factors like cost and accessibility for transit agencies including VTA, BART and Caltrain....
Santa Clara redoing plan for El Camino Real
Santa Clara is going back to the drawing board again on an ambitious project to expand the city’s longest transit corridor—a complex transformation that has dragged on for years. The City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to have city workers revise a draft of the El Camino Real transit corridor proposal—a major road redesign that includes about...
State bill stemming from San Jose VTA shooting signed into law
Transit workers are one step closer to mental health support, part of a statewide effort to address workplace violence. Gov. Gavin Newsom approved Senate Bill 1294, which strives to implement wellness centers for workers and their families across California’s transit agencies, using San Jose’s own VTA Resiliency Center as a model. The bill, authored by...