The partnership between two Silicon Valley transit agencies is souring amid accusations of a lack of communication involving the region’s most significant expansion project. BART leaders say they’re frustrated that VTA failed to share critical updates about the Silicon Valley expansion project before announcing them publicly, according to recent letter obtained by San José Spotlight. The two agencies are...
Silicon Valley transit agency joins regional sales tax effort
After months of deliberation, VTA is joining five major Bay Area transit agencies in supporting a regional funding measure planned for the 2026 ballot. The VTA board of directors on Thursday voted unanimously to opt into Senate Bill 63, which would allow transit agencies or voter initiatives to put a regional half-cent sales tax on...
Silicon Valley BART project gets millions in funding, but still short
VTA is finding ways to patch the Silicon Valley BART expansion’s nearly $1 billion budget gap, from extra state funding to restructuring expensive contracts. The California Transportation Commission awarded two grants to the BART expansion project on Thursday and Friday, totaling about $100 million. At the same time, the VTA board of directors has approved...
Silicon Valley BART tunnel launches construction
The whir and thunks of heavy equipment hauling clay and soil from underground could be heard throughout the Newhall Maintenance Yard on Monday, as VTA begins construction on the BART expansion through Silicon Valley. Contractors have been working in the yard 22 hours a day since June 9 pulling bentonite — a clay-like material —...
San Jose BART extension faces nearly 2-year delay
Silicon Valley’s long-awaited BART expansion could be delayed for another year and a half while officials consider cutting one of the project’s largest contracts to save costs. VTA wants to look for a new contractor to bore the expansion’s five-mile tunnel, after being unable to reach an agreement with the current contractor, Kiewit Shea Traylor....
San Jose business owner loses property for BART expansion
Sridhar Kollareddy walks between thousands of imported marbled granite slabs, slated to become countertops or gravestones. His business, Silicon Valley Granite, has sold the slabs across the Bay Area for 20 years from his San Jose facility. But now, he’s being forced to vacate the property in less than 72 hours to make way for...
VTA BART expansion work to include minority-owned businesses
VTA has pledged to increase contracting opportunities for minority-owned businesses in its ongoing BART expansion into San Jose. Sergio Lopez, mayor of Campbell and chair of VTA’s board of directors, signed the Equity in Infrastructure Project pledge on behalf of the agency Monday, alongside more than a dozen local government agencies. The VTA board unanimously...
NBC Bay Area: Safety concerns about plans for deep BART tunnel in San Jose
BART officials warned the head of the Valley Transportation Authority in 2017 that the single-bore tunnel design planned for the San Jose extension posed “serious risks to safety.”
San Jose officials juggle transit design with city disruption
Silicon Valley transportation leaders are closer than ever to turning San Jose’s doorstep into one of the West Coast’s largest mass transit hubs. They just have to come up with billions to pay for it and get residents on board with the ongoing effects of major construction over the next few decades. The San Jose...
Silicon Valley BART expansion has multimillion-dollar shortfall
Federal funding will be flowing into Silicon Valley to help expand BART service to Santa Clara, but the revenue is just short of VTA’s request, leaving officials looking for ways to plug the shortfall. VTA announced a $5.1 billion grant on Friday from the Federal Transportation Agency for the second phase of BART’s expansion into...