A trio of Bay Area planning and business leaders are ramping up efforts to promote a years-long initiative to get a $100 billion tax measure for transit investment on the ballot in Nov. 2020, as opponents of the measure start to push back. The measure, called FASTER Bay Area, is backed by The Silicon Valley...
San Jose lawmakers to discuss transforming BART stations into transit communities
The Valley Transportation Authority has spent years developing a plan to create new, vibrant communities around transit hubs, especially at a time when BART is expanding its reach in Silicon Valley. On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council will hear a report highlighting VTA’s major goals for Phase II of BART’s Silicon Valley expansion project, just...
Environmental activists urge VTA to shift funds from highway projects to mass transit
Dozens of young environmental activists implored the Valley Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors to declare a climate crisis during its last meeting of the year this week. The group — including many local high school students — asked the board to commit to a zero carbon emission bus fleet, forswear future cuts to bus service...
The competition is on for policing new BART stations, including San Jose
As Bay Area mass transit services struggle to protect public safety, Silicon Valley law enforcement agencies are competing for a chance to police the new Valley Transportation Authority transit centers in Milpitas and San Jose when BART trains start rolling into Santa Clara County for the first time in 2020. An Alameda County Grand Jury...
VTA charges ahead with new service plan, despite BART delays
The Valley Transportation Authority spent most of 2019 making decisions about how to deploy public transit resources based on the assumption that Bay Area Rapid Transit would open two new train stations in the South Bay before the end of the year. But despite months of promises from BART, that’s not going to happen. Last week,...
VTA installs new safety railings in downtown San Jose
The next time you’re strolling through downtown San Jose while staring at your phone, look up. You might bump into a VTA railing that’s meant to save you from an oncoming train. VTA recently installed a series of railings on Second Street as part of a pilot program to improve safety and speed for VTA...
Transit leaders approve vital agreement for BART extension
A vital agreement between the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Bay Area Rapid Transit has finally been authorized, just in time for the completion of Phase I of the Silicon Valley expansion project – the 10-mile BART extension to Milpitas and Berryessa. The VTA Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday to authorize VTA General Manager...
Traffic concerns engulf San Jose neighborhoods on verge of development
A long history of reckless speeding, hit-and-runs and traffic-related deaths in San Jose’s Northside neighborhood has forced Tony Mangallanez to prohibit his kids from playing outside in the front yard. “Drivers need to act like your kids are living on the street,” Mangallanez said. “I had a car that was totaled in front of my...
Bay Area companies and community groups push for $16B transportation investment
A group of 32 Bay Area organizations, from private tech companies to community groups, on Wednesday urged local lawmakers to take big, new strides to invest in transportation throughout the region. In a letter, signed by Alphabet-owned Waymo, San Francisco-based ridesharing and scooter companies Lyft and Lime alongside a slew of Bay Area bicycle coalitions,...
San Jose lawmaker criticizes highway funds diverted to high-speed rail
Gov. Gavin Newsom has received backlash from both sides of the political aisle after signing an executive order last month that diverts funds away from highway repairs into high-speed rail projects — a move that has some San Jose lawmakers shaking their heads. The funds — up to $5 billion generated annually — stem from...