A Silicon Valley legislator wants big changes for the region’s major transit agency, and not everyone is on board. Assemblymember Marc Berman held a panel this week to explore ideas for reforming VTA’s governance structure. Under the current system, elected officials from Santa Clara County and all its cities are appointed members of the 18-person...
VTA bets big on housing in Santa Clara County
Transit comes first at VTA, but the San Jose agency sees a big future in residential real estate. Earlier this month, VTA announced several significant updates about housing projects being built on agency-owned land, also known as transit-oriented developments (TODs). On March 9, California invested $29 million to build a 569-unit housing project near Tamien...
Etch and protect: San Jose’s plan to stop catalytic converter thefts
A San Jose resident turns on their car and hears a loud roar. They check under the car and confirm their worst fear: their catalytic converter is gone. Catalytic converter thefts have spiked in San Jose in recent years, rising from 84 cases in 2019 to 1,087 in 2021, according to police department data. Filled...
Here’s how San Jose plans to prevent traffic fatalities
San Jose has plans to increase traffic enforcement in an attempt to address the rising trend of traffic deaths. Mayor Sam Liccardo announced a $6 million multi-prong plan Wednesday to increase safety projects such as street barriers for pedestrians, protective bike lanes, street lighting and automated signage and enforcement. This follows last year’s near-record number of...
Silicon Valley drivers feel pressure at the pump
With gas prices at an all-time high in California and around the U.S., local residents are digging deep into their wallets. Gas prices have soared to an average of $5.69 a gallon in California as of Thursday, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago. The nationwide average of $4.31 breaks the July 2008 record...
Worker complaints keep rolling in at Silicon Valley transit agency
Complaints continue to crop up in VTA’s technology department, months after workers demanded an investigation into toxic work culture. A VTA manager with a history of run-ins with workers made threatening gestures toward an employee, according to a complaint filed with the agency. A complaint submitted to the public transit agency’s Office of Civil Rights...
Silicon Valley transit agency’s future may be falling off the rails
VTA is pondering the future of its light rail system as it considers how to replace an aging fleet of train cars. The public transit agency’s board of directors met last week to hear about the future of its light rail fleet. According to officials, VTA should replace its fleet of cars in three to...
San Jose transit agency investigating toxic culture, workers say
Allegations about toxic work culture are surfacing again at VTA—this time in its customer service department. Current and former VTA workers told San José Spotlight a customer service manager, Combiz Khatiblou, was put on paid administrative leave last month and that an investigation is pending. Current and former employees claim Khatiblou contributed to a hostile...
Silicon Valley transit workers upset over COVID vaccine policy
Outraged VTA employees are taking their leaders to task over a mandate requiring them to get vaccinated for COVID-19 by the end of April. Santa Clara County public transit workers flooded Thursday’s virtual board meeting to express displeasure with the vaccine policy issued last week. Many are members of VTA’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265. They...
San Jose ends controversial plans for Charcot Avenue extension
Contentious plans for the Charcot Avenue Extension project in North San Jose have reached the end of the road. On Tuesday, the San Jose City Council unanimously voted to drop plans to build an overpass that would cross over Interstate 880 from Paragon Drive to Oakland Road and divert the remaining $3.9 million in budgeted...