VTA has a new shuttle service operator for people with disabilities and the previous contractor is raising concerns about why it was ousted. The public transit agency’s board of directors unanimously and begrudgingly awarded a three-year, $110 million contract to Transdev Services as the new VTA Access paratransit shuttle program operator. The contract includes four...
San Jose business owner gets temporary reprieve from VTA
A San Jose business owner won’t have to scramble to make way for a transit project and lose millions of dollars in inventory after entering discussions with VTA. Sridhar Kollareddy, owner of Silicon Valley Granite, has more time to move thousands of heavy granite slabs out of his shop after talking with VTA Tuesday about...
UPDATE: San Jose transit agency mulls over regional sales tax
At a VTA board meeting Thursday night, chaos and confusion reigned with directors unable to decide on an approach to a proposed transit tax measure. The VTA board heard a presentation on Senate Bill 63, which would create a sales tax district to support transit across the Bay Area. However, boardmembers couldn’t agree on whether...
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 finalizes contracts with three unions, excludes frontline workers
Three of VTA’s four unions ratified new contracts for the next four years, leaving the transit agency’s frontline workers hanging. Service Employees International Union Local 521, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1101 and Transportation Authority Engineers and Architects Local 21, which represent about 575 workers combined, reached agreements with VTA as...
Ruling to end VTA strike upheld by appeals court
An appellate court judge has denied an appeal from a union representing bus drivers and light rail operators with VTA — doubling down on the decision to end a historic worker strike. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 filed the appeal after Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel Nishigaya ruled March 26 the union had...
San Jose transit agency employees working without new deal
VTA and its unionized frontline workers have made little progress toward a new deal since a Santa Clara County judge stopped a historic strike one week ago. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 received three offers from the public transit agency’s negotiators over the weekend — all based on previous offers that union membership soundly rejected....
UPDATE: Santa Clara VTA light rail starts to come back on line
The VTA light rail Orange Line has returned to full service and partial service has been restored to the Blue Line Monday, after the historic union worker strike paused the agency’s bus and light rail services for almost three weeks. The fully restored Orange Line runs from Mountain View to Alum Rock, and the partially...
VTA strike must end, Santa Clara County judge rules
A Santa Clara County judge has ruled against striking VTA union workers, bringing bus and light rail services back to the region. Superior Court Judge Daniel Nishigaya ruled Wednesday that members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, which represents about 1,500 frontline VTA employees, must return to work — ending the union’s historic 17-day strike....
Commuting San Jose State students struggle amid VTA strike
A local university is trying to help its students caught in the ongoing VTA strike find transportation. The union worker strike started March 10 and has left San Jose State University students stranded at the BART Berryessa station and elsewhere. While VTA is offering $5 vouchers for Uber rides for two rides per day between stations, taking...