A Silicon Valley transit agency is gaining international recognition for its service during some of its most tumultuous and violent times. But advocates said the agency still has work to do to heal and protect its workforce.
VTA has won the Outstanding Public Transportation System award, an international recognition of transit agencies in North America honoring the agency’s service from 2021 to 2023. The nonprofit American Public Transportation Association — which has more than 1,500 member organizations — granted the award. VTA competed alongside other transit agencies with more than 15 million but fewer than 50 million passenger trips annually and was judged on 12 qualifications, including safety, maintenance and workforce development.
Judges noted VTA’s mentoring programs for female employees, climate change efforts and post-pandemic recovery, which has placed it in the top five nationwide for ridership recovery, according to VTA. The award also encompassed some of the agency’s most turbulent years, including a mass shooting that spurred conversations about a toxic work culture.
Spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said VTA is “absolutely thrilled” with receiving the award, the first time the agency has won, and added it shows the agency’s strength during disaster.
“One of the things we talked about was the resilience that our agency operated with through such crushing challenges as the COVID pandemic, the aftermath of the shooting in 2021 and the cyber attack that we underwent right before the shooting,” she told San José Spotlight. “All three of those things were major challenges that we had to get through, and we persevered. Our employees persevere.”
VTA implemented a workplace violence prevention plan in July and Hendler Ross said the agency has started training its employees on it, following the mass shooting in 2021 by a disgruntled worker who killed nine people. While VTA settled with families of eight of the victims, one lawsuit is still ongoing. The agency also created its 526 Resiliency Center after what would become San Jose’s first mass shooting, where employees can seek free mental health services.
Workers said the resources VTA provided in the aftermath were not enough to address what they claimed was a toxic work culture where they said they were harassed, excessively disciplined and felt unsafe, all while COVID-19 infections continued to rise. Hendler Ross said the agency sought a consultant to help its work culture and formed focus groups to gain feedback from employees, as state legislation supported its recovery.
John Courtney, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 when the shooting occurred, said he has no issue with VTA receiving the award, but the agency didn’t listen to concerns over the work culture. Courtney, who has since retired, added the recognition should go toward employees on the ground.
“There was a reason why folks pointed to the culture at VTA as a reason for some of the horrible things that happened over the years, and not just the shooting,” he told San José Spotlight.
Raj Singh, current president of ATU 265, said the award is the result of employees’ hard work and professionalism.
“I’m glad that that’s been recognized,” he told San José Spotlight.
Hendler Ross said trying to improve is a continued effort. She said the agency is constantly developing itself, including upping security at bus yards and using recent state legislation to remove troublesome passengers.
The agency also recently received state audit results that found it could improve its operations by boosting transparency around board members’ appointments and changing their terms, among other recommendations. VTA did not agree with changing board appointment terms or to transparency-boosting measures per the audit, but agreed with all other recommendations.
Eugene Bradley, founder and CEO of advocacy group Silicon Valley Transit Users, said VTA is deserving of the award, but needs to ensure it continues improving.
“The award is not a sign to be complacent,” he told San José Spotlight. “You must still get funding, get attention, have a decent work culture.”
Courtney said the fact that VTA is still standing after the tumult is a credit to the agency.
“Knowing all that they went through, of course, they didn’t handle everything perfectly,” he said. “They were building the airplane as they were flying it.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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