Bringing Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to Silicon Valley has proven difficult due to costs and because BART and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) officials haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but on Friday the agencies made a breakthrough. Officials have agreed to use what is known as a “single bore stacked platform configuration,” meaning...
San Jose parks, light rail routes close as agencies respond to fast-spreading coronavirus
Two of San Jose’s city parks will be temporarily closed starting Friday as local officials try to thin the record crowds parks saw last weekend following a statewide “stay at home” order. Alum Rock Park on the city’s east side and the staircase and trail on Communications Hill will close, according to a news release...
Bay Area transit measure delayed as business sector focuses on COVID-19
The novel coronavirus has set back a transit measure that local leaders were pushing to get on the November ballot. A measure, known as FASTER Bay Area, to raise an estimated $100 billion for transit investment over the next 40 years, was expected to appear on the ballot near the end of the year, but...
VTA adopts enhanced cleaning practices in response to coronavirus concerns
The Valley Transportation Authority is taking new steps to disinfect buses, light rail cars and stations to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Santa Clara County. The agency’s response to concerns about surface transmission of coronavirus drew praise from regular riders and advocates alike. “They are doing everything they can,” said transit activist...
San Jose council OKs $6.8 million to make city streets safer
It’s been five years since San Jose joined a national effort dedicated to reducing traffic fatalities, but the city’s pedestrian and cyclist death toll hit an all-time high last year. In an effort to reduce deaths, city lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously approved pumping $6.78 million over the next year into the Vision Zero plan, which...
VTA board approves resolution declaring climate emergency
Two months after a multitude of environmental activists implored Silicon Valley’s mass transit agency to address the global crisis, the VTA board of directors voted unanimously to declare a climate emergency — a resolution whose chief architect says will “force the board to be more mindful” of the environmental impacts of its actions. VTA is...
Leaders to weigh pros, cons of future train alignments at Diridon Station
As traffic and congestion plagues the Bay Area, regional transportation leaders are working on a redesign of the South Bay’s most critical transit hub: San Jose’s Diridon Station, abutting a potential new multi-million-square-foot Google campus. Some details of the new station have been ironed out. For instance, train tracks at Diridon Station will eventually sit...
San Jose lawmakers vote against supporting Measure B funds reallocation
Silicon Valley climate activists are urging the VTA to declare a climate emergency and reallocate funds from a 2016 half-cent sales tax to public transit projects in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the San Jose City Council on Tuesday, which has five directors on the VTA board that includes Mayor Sam Liccardo...
Political power struggle is the ‘elephant in the room’ at VTA board meeting
The VTA’s Board of Directors had a study session Friday to consider more than two dozen recommendations from an outside consultant to improve how the authority is governed, and newly-elected board chair Cindy Chavez closed the meeting by addressing the “elephant in the room.” The recommendations — which include setting expectations for board member attendance,...
New transit centers bring buses and light rail to South Bay, BART service still delayed
In the hopes of boosting ridership in 2020, the Valley Transportation Authority overhauled its service plan for the first time in more than a decade — including opening two shiny new transit centers that will eventually connect South Bay commuters to BART for the first time. “The Milpitas and Berryessa transit centers, that will also...