San Jose officials want to cut the level of greenhouse gas emissions downtown. The city’s solution is to eliminate parking space mandates for developers. The downtown area is expected to experience dramatic growth over the next decades, and officials want commuters to lean more toward public transit. City officials are also exploring the use of...
Is San Jose’s transit agency prepared for another catastrophe?
Between wildfires, a mass shooting and an unprecedented pandemic, VTA and other Bay Area transit agencies face constant threats to long-term stability. Some transit advocates are concerned agencies aren’t prepared for the next catastrophe. “They’re not ready for when the big 8.0 (earthquake) hits the Hayward Fault and takes out BART,” Silicon Valley Transit Users founder...
San Jose VTA approves changes to how residents can speak at meetings
Residents hoping to speak at future VTA board meetings might find themselves waiting until the end of the night. On Thursday, VTA’s governance and audit committee unanimously approved guidelines for public comment that will go into effect in January. Public comment for items not on the agenda will now be split between the start and...
Parking permits could come to East San Jose
Parking in some East San Jose neighborhoods is so difficult that residents place traffic cones along the curbs just to reserve a spot. A fed-up planning commissioner has a solution: parking permits. Planning Commission Chair Rolando Bonilla, who represents East San Jose, is proposing a pilot parking permit program for some residents. The pilot program proposes two to four permits per household at...
What does Santa Clara County’s transit agency lobby for?
VTA’s priorities were dramatically shaken following a mass shooting in May, but the transit agency continues to lobby for its bread-and-butter projects. In the first two quarters of 2021, VTA paid $86,000 to its state lobbyist, California Advisors LLC. VTA paid $80,000 to its federal lobbyist Van Scoyoc Associates for the first half of 2021. Neither...
Silicon Valley transit agency lacks COVID vaccine mandate
VTA has a substantial number of unvaccinated employees, but the South Bay transit agency isn’t taking any steps to require a COVID-19 vaccine. As of Tuesday, 1,258 workers are fully vaccinated, while 1,470 are at least partially vaccinated—69.37% of VTA’s workforce. The agency has about 2,100 employees. Since the public transit agency is an independent...
UPDATE: Busy Central San Jose intersection gets safety measures
Seven traffic-related deaths in the past year have finally prompted the city to take action at a busy intersection in Central San Jose. Monterey Road and Curtner Avenue—part of one of the most dangerous thoroughfares in the city—will have barriers installed as part of a safety pilot program. City officials estimate the cost to be...
Santa Clara County paratransit riders want service improvements
Zsa Zsa Taylor has been doing everything possible to keep her joy alive after a diagnosis of MS and cancer. But her commute makes that tough. Like other Santa Clara County residents with disabilities and mobility issues, Taylor travels around the region using VTA Access, a paratransit program that normally services more than 500,000 riders...
VTA chugging toward full light rail service in Santa Clara County
It’s taken months, but Santa Clara County’s public transit agency is almost fully back in action. Starting this weekend, VTA officials said the entire light rail system will be back on track. The agency announced an expansion of light rail service earlier this week to include the entire Blue Line, which runs from Baypointe to...
San Jose councilmember proposes ‘seamless’ public transportation
Public transit riders in Silicon Valley have a lot of agencies to keep up with: VTA, BART, Caltrain—and that’s if you take public transit at all. And if you plan on traveling to places like the North and East Bay you’ll have to wade through 27 different public transit agencies. San Jose Councilmember and VTA...