One Square Mile

Level of Service (LOS) <=> Level of Casualty (LOC)

2012-02-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

pic. #1
Santa Clara Street looking west
from City Hall Plaza. Car
turning on left arrow

I spent many hours in meetings last year regarding San Jose's Envision 2040 General Plan, in which participants called for the need to "design for people and not for cars", along with other catchy slogans. But in reality most of those who advocated for people, drove cars.

I really can't blame them because the streets of downtown San Jose were designed with the movement of large volumes of cars at the most effective speed, as top priority. Transit, pedestrians, bicycles, the elderly, and the disabled were all designed into the system as afterthoughts. Yes there are crosswalks and pedestrian signals but the priority on downtown streets is to move cars; pure and simple.

pic 2
With pedestrian signal green
autos are required to yield.
(Electric sign next to signal)

Technically priority is expressed as LOS, or Level of Service.

Current planning tends to evaluate transportation system performance based primarily on motor vehicle traffic speed and delay (tables 1 and 2). There are generally no LOS ratings for other modes or problems. This tends to favor highway expansion over other types of transportation improvements, contributing to Automobile Dependency. (Multi-Modal Level-of-Service Indicators Tools For Evaluating The Quality of Transport Services and Facilities
- Victoria Transportation Institute)

Given this priority, automobiles assert this right whenever possible and this morning was no exception. I had my own encounter with an automobile that although had violated traffic laws, obviously felt that it was in her right to do so.

pic 3
S. 4th Street looking south
towards 280 entrance

In downtown San Jose 3rd and 4th Streets mainly serve as arterial collectors for autos entering and exiting Interstate 280 to the south. These serve as 3 lane thoroughfares on the eastern end of downtown adjacent to dense areas such as San Jose City Hall and San Jose State University.

While crossing S. 4th Street heading east towards City Hall Plaza this morning I was almost hit by a driver that did something which is becoming more common on our streets these days. When a vehicle approaches another from behind at a stop sign, signal, or intersection it is assumed many times that if the car is stopped in the intersection it is because the driver is incompetent or confused. The driver behind many times will not see the pedestrian or cyclist that the first vehicle is yielding to. Horn honking and hand gestures are the usual result.

However this morning the impatient driver didn't even wait but continued into opposing traffic to and narrowly escaped from hitting me (see map below).

This morning's incident brings up to important questions:

Does a struggling downtown still need to give automobiles top priority or should it encourage shoppers, residents, students, and employees to the area by making the streets safer and more comfortable. Should we revert 3rd and 4th Streets back to two-way streets?
Given that 4th Street is a high speed connector to the Interstate, if the driver had hit me would she have continued at high speed to the freeway without stopping? Hit and run incidents are becoming more common.
This intersections is only two blocks from a large downtown elementary school which is in conflict to a move traffic at high speeds at all cost policy.

So more than just provide a two minute public comment at planning meetings let your elected officials (and your newspaper's auto columnist) know how dangerous your streets are. In fact encourage them to try walking, cycling, or taking transit for at least one month to experience the status of our streets. Until then, Level of Service might as just as well be an indicator for Level of Casualties.

View San Jose City Hall in a larger map

Is There any There There?

2012-02-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Grand Central Terminal
New York City

Play this game for me. Ask your friend to name a city and then say what first pops into your mind visually. If the city is Seattle; is it the Space Needle, evergreen trees or Pikes Place Market? If its New York is it one of the many place icons within the five boroughs ; the Statue of Liberty, the Chysler Building, or Grand Central Terminal?
One of the easiest and most lasting ways we remember cities is their iconic buildings, structures, artwork, topography, or natural features. Name a city and we instantly recall these images. When we talk about placemaking today, these images play a huge role in a city's identity. City's work hard to keep those images in your mind to get you to keep coming back, to locate a business, or to buy a home.

Featauared in Women's Health
In a recent issue of Women's Health (January/February 2012), the magazine featured an article "The Healthiest Cities for Women", highlighting the top ten as well as the bottom ten of their list of the 100 largest cities in America. The article also described just what makes them the healthiest.

Women's Health Magazine
January / February 2012
from my iPhone

The first page is a stunning visual of 3 of the top cities; Austin, Texas, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and my current city, San Jose, California. The photo of Minneapolis soon caught my eye. I had seen pictures of this Midwestern skyline, and the iconic Stone Arch Bridge built over 100 years ago in 1883. The bottom picture shows part of the beautiful Lady Bird Lake Trail in Austin, Texas.

However, as I glanced at the top photo, showing two young women taken at close range, I hesitated. This photo looked different. The visual of the two runners with big smiles on their faces almost seemed posed. The background was blurred and referenced no visual clues. It almost; shall I say look staged.

But then I got to thinking. What would the photo show anyway? Do we have a vista point in the city to show off a skyline. Do we have a trail system that rivals Austin's Lady Bird Lake Trail, or New York's High Line. Well we don't, and that's a sad thing.

When a national magazine can insert some generic photograph using staged models to represent your city, that's the collective collective American databank telling you that there may be nothing memorable about your city. That it falls into the many generic backdrops of similar post-World War Two "drive-bys" such as Phoenix, Dallas, Anaheim, and sadly in many cases San Jose.

Cities are defined by their ability to evoke a sense of place. No generic photo would ever take the place of a Manhattan skyline, a Diamond Head, or the US Capitol. The miles upon miles of beautiful orchards which used to evoke the phrase "The Valley of Hearts Delight" are gone. What image will now take their place.

City of San Jose's Trail Manager to speak at Save Our Trails Meeting

2012-02-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

Save Our Trails Monthly Meeting

Photo: Willow Glen Charm

Save our Trails a local group of trail enthusiasts are hosting Yves Zsutty, Trail Manager for the City of San Jose at their Monthly meeting on Monday February 13, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Willow Glen Baptist Church (see map for details).

Save Our Trails (SOT) was created to protect the Willow Glen Spur Rail from development leaving it open to be developed as a community trail. The rail featured prominently in San Jose history connecting the canneries just to the north of Willow Glen with the main rail lines out of the city. Their work establish funding sources for the city to buy the rail right of way for the Western Alignment from Union Pacific Railroad. Mr. Zsutty will also highlight the rail trestle over the Los Gatos Creek between Lonus St. and Coe Avenue which will be closed for safety reasons while performing a retrofit study.

Photo: City of San Josae

He will also make a short presentation on completion of the acquisition of parcels from Lonus Street to Minnesota Avenue and update SOT on current work to define interim trail use of the land, the study, and retrofit of the trestle structure as well as next steps. A brief overview of other trail development efforts now underway in San Jose will be provided."

Additionally March 12, 2012 will be the date for the group's Annual Meeting. Plans are to have honored speakers, membership opportunities, elections, yummy food, and music.

Save the date and Save Our Trails.

You can find directions and the meeting agenda at http://www.saveourtrails-scc.org/

State Routes Relinquished to San Jose

2012-02-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

This article by Ray Salvano appeared in the January 2012 issue of DOT Way, the City of San Jose's DOT newsletter. Ray is an employee within the Department of Transportation (portions in bold are my own).

On December 28, 2011, after almost six years of negotiations with Caltrans, the City became the official owner of State Routes 82 and 130. Serving primarily as urban arterials within the City of San Jose, these state routes are commonly known as the Alameda and Monterrey Road (SR 82) and Alum Rock Avenue (SR 140).

Over the decades of their existence and with the growth and urbanization of the City, SR 82 and SR 130 have evolved to serve more as local arterial streets than part of the state highway system. However, as these roadways were under the jurisdiction of Caltrans, any changes to the roadway, such as a new traffic signal or crosswalk, resulting from a development project or local or community based improvement would require Caltran's involvement at all levels, e.g., administration, planning, construction and operations. The result of Caltrans' involvement in these types of local projects was typically an increase in the cost and time to deliver the project.

Perhaps more importantly from the City's perspective, a projects development along state routes are required to meet Caltran's rigid, auto-oriented design and operational standards.

These standards are often in conflict with the City's development and multi-modal objectives, as well as community interests. In the case of SR 82 and SR 130, the City's goals for these streets, as recently adopted in the Envision 2040 General Plan Update, are to improve the pedestrian environment, implement multi-modal projects and reconsider the amount of right-of-way previously development to auto-centric standards.

With the relinquishment of the State routes, the City has the opportunity to better manage, integrate and streamline the land use, right-of-way, and decision-making process along these corridors without having to go through Caltran's project development processes. Currently, there are a number of projects of local and regional significance being development along these corridor that will benefit from the City's ownership of these corridors. A few examples of these projects include: VTA's Bus Rapid Transit projects along Alum Rock and The Alameda, our own "The Alameda - The Beautiful Way' street scape projects, planning activities in the Diridon Station area.

With the relinquishment of the State Routes, approximately 12 centerline miles will be added to the City's street inventory. To offset the generally poor conditions of the facilities, Caltrans has agreed to support the City's request for $12.4 million in federal grant funds toward the rehabilitation of the roadway facilities. These funds, when combined with the local projects previously mentioned, are intended to improve the roadways and related facilities to a good state of repair and not require any substantial invest of maintenance funds for several years.

A special thanks goes to Betsy Shotwell, Roxanne Miller and Kelly Doyle for their support and guidance through the State's legislative processes, the IM Division for helping develop the condition assessment report, Johnny Phan of the Attorney's Office for his assistance in negotiating the relinquishment agreement and Zahir Gulzadah for manging the relinquishment process on the City side.

City of San Jose to host public meetings on bikeway improvements

2012-02-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

Photo: StreetsblogSF

The City of San Jose's Department of Transportation will be holding two neighborhood meetings highlighting exciting changes to downtown streets. Come get the latest and most detailed information and provide input to these long awaited projects.

Please also pass this information along to your bicycling friends as well. (Check map links for detail room locations at City Hall)

10th &11th Street Bike Lane Improvement Project
Neighborhood Meeting

Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Time: 6:00 PM
Location:  City Hall Wing, Room W-119 & 120, 200 E. Santa Clara Street
Description: Class II Bike Lanes on 10th & 11th Streets (between Hedding and Keyes Streets)

Agenda:
1. Sign In
  2. Project Overview Review
  3. Project Update and Schedule
  4. Question and Answer Portion
  5. Adjournment

3rd Street, 4th Street & Almaden Blvd Bike Lane Improvement Project
Neighborhood Meeting

Date: Monday, February 27, 2012
Time: 6.30 PM
Location: City Hall Wing, Room W-119 & 120, 200 E. Santa Clara Street
Description:  Class II Bike Lanes on 3rd & 4th Streets (between Julian/St. James and Reed Street)
                    Class II Bike Lanes on Almaden Boulevard (between St. John and Grant Street)

Agenda:
1. Sign In
  2. Project Overview Review
  3. Project Update and Schedule
  4. Question and Answer Portion
  5. Adjournment

Shopping bags and transit trips

2012-01-31T09:49:00.000-08:00

What do shopping bags and transit trips have in common. Well from recent experiences here in the Capitol of the Silicon Valley; plenty.

As of January 1st of this year all retail stores (restaurants excluded) are banned from issuing plastic carryout bags. Stores and pharmacies can provide paper bags but must charge a minimum of 10 cents per bag. From my own experience and also asking others in the retail industry; what is amazing is that just by charging the 10 cent minimum, customers are demanding far less of the paper bags. Just a 10 cent addition to your purchase and demand plummets. On a $50.00 purchase that's 2/10 of one percent or .2% of the total purchase. Freakeconomists would call that freaky elasticity.

Coffee Cups and Transit Stops

Contrast to paper cup usage at your favorite coffee shop and the influence on demand is not that great. How many customers do you see with reusable cups; over half? One of the reasons is that the shops don't charge extra as in the paper bag model. Coffee shops will only give you a discount if you bring in a cup, and in the Starbuck's case only on certain cups (try bring a Peet's mug into Starbucks and your bucking company policy).

So what does this have to do with transit trips? Look at the photo above that I took at Diridon Station yesterday morning at 8:44. The large transit bus on the left is VTA line 65 bus getting ready to head eastbound (see map) and the small crowd on the right is hiding the "Downtown DASH" shuttle bus that is also heading eastbound. Both lines share exactly the same route for the first mile towards the MLK Library.

Both buses left Diridon at just about the same time. The DASH shuttle left at 8:46 AM and the Route 64 bus eastbound left the station at 8:47 AM. My quick count of the DASH shuttle was about 25 passengers and only 3 on the "64". Actually halfway on the route the "64" passed the shuttle due to a stop to unload passengers at San Fernando and N. San Pedro Streets. So we can assume that the buses left at the same time.

So why does one bus attract over 8 times the passenger as the other? Well the bus on the left has a fare of $2.00 and the one on the right is Free. In comparison to the shopping bag model this is like striking big in the lotto, not free as compared with 10 cents but free compared with $2.00. The fact that the DASH is free creates excess demand (even the the bus is crowded, it takes longer to board and unboard passengers, and is slower overall that the 64 bus). Free (or not extra costs) greatly influences purchasing habits. I can only assume that maybe the customers on the bus on the left were going beyond the free bus route.

Farless Squares

Before light rail and streetcars were a part of Portland streets that city had what is known as the Fareless Square where bus rides within the downtown area were free. The first time I visited the city, buses, the MAX (light rail), and the streetcar line were all free in the downtown area and was named the "Fareless Square". Now with rail a big part of downtown the program is now known as the "Free Rail Zone".

What would a Fareless Square do for San Jose?

It would encourage more people to live work and play downtown. Residents would find it easier to shop. Tourists could play and spend money at a wider variety of venues before heading to museums, theaters, and sports venues. Downtown office workers could linger downtown after work to go shopping and dining.

In the example I gave above, with more options commuters arriving to San Jose could get to their offices sooner with less crowding.
Tourists who normally park a car next to their destination would now be encourage to explore the city.
More people out walking and talking transit will enliven the often morbid street scene.
With greater transit use, there less of a need to build and operate expensive parking garages.
Safer and cleaner downtown streets with reduced congestion and traffic volumes..

But there are obviously costs involved. In Portland payroll taxes paid for the downtown lines under the assumption that as ridership went up among residents, tourists, and workers commercial activity would increase as well. Also there would need to be an efficient way to price based on zones.

So if we take a tip from the retail bag law (and freeway usage); if its free it will get used. Any comments?

VTA Route 64 vs VTA Downtown DASH Shuttle

View Farless Square Example in a larger map

2012-01-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

Two major Trail Construction updates were announced this week by the City of San Jose's Parks and Recreation Dept. Trail Cordinator Yvess Zuetty will release more information on the expected one year closure of the Guadalupe Park Trail within the next week or two.

Highway 237 Bikeway closure
The Highway 237 Bikeway (from Zanker Road to Coyote Creek) will be closed on January 23 for construction. Expect reopening by April 13, 2012. The project will replace the deteriorated maintenance road with a paved asphalt trail (12’ wide, with 2’ gravel shoulders).

Lower Guadalupe River Trail Closure
In a few months, San José will need to close the popular Lower Guadalupe River Trail. The existing gravel trail is 6.4 miles and extends from Highway 880 to Gold Street.

View Silicon Valley Trail System - Status in a larger map

January 26, 2012 - Upcoming Social Cycling Events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

2012-01-26T16:30:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Bike Soiree
Just what is Bike Soiree? Bike Soiree are smaller advocacy themed rides in the Silicon Valley Area and are held twice a month.

Biccicletta Fiesta
Saturday, February 4th, 2012
Food Hosted by Sal's Pizza - 533 E Campbell Ave (Tread bikes in the same pkg lot)
Ride Starts at 7:00 PM and continue until about 11:00 The route will be about 13 miles.

March Madness Downtown Soiree
Saturday, March 3, 2012 6:00 PM until 10:30 PM
Food will again be hosted by the great staff at Bicycle Express at 6:00 PM
Bicycle Express is located at 131 E. William St:, San Jose, CA.

Apex Pilates Sports Basement Party & Ride
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Sports Basement: 1177 Kern Ave, Sunnyvale
main event ~ 5:30-6:30pm: Sports Basement Party - munchies, drinks & discount
optional: 6:45-10:30pm: Ride - pace and distance to be determined (15-20mi)

For more information see their Facebook page.

San Jose Bike Party Test Ride #1

Saturday, January 28, 2012 7:00 PM
This Month's Theme:
Mardis Gras
Location: Westfield Oakridge

San Jose Bike Party

Friday, February 17, 2012 8:00
This Month's Theme:
Mardis Gras
Location: TBD

Santa Cruz Bike Party
Saturday, January 28, 2012
6:00 - 11:30 PM
In historic surfer slang, a "Hoedad" is a poseur who hangs out at beaches and other surfer hangouts, trying to evoke the image; yet never actually rides waves.

Legend has it this name (preserved in early 1960's beach b-movies) originated in the brussel sprouts fields just north of town, where the surfers had to cross to access the secluded coves up there, sometimes dodging garden-tool-wielding old farmers. One dude made it across the field, only to chicken out of actual surf riding... his buddies taunted him,"You just one of them Hoe-Daddy-O's!"

This theme is easy... dress up like a fake surfer, a farmer, or anything in between.

Last Sunday of the Month Ride Willow Glen to Los Gatos

Saturday, January 29, 2012

2:30 - 7:00 PM

~20 mile medium pace ride. (No one will be drop from the ride).
Will stop at LeBoulanger in Los Gatos for late afternoon brunch.
THERE IS NO FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND!

San Francisco Bike Party
Friday February 3, 2012
http://sfbikeparty.wordpress.com/

Bike Soiree
Saturday, February 4, 2012 5:00 - 10:00 PM
See Facebook page for more details
http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/299720246733660/

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, February 10, 2011 7:30 PM

http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/

Woodside > Pacific Ocean > Woodside

Saturday, February 4, 2012

11:00am until 4:00pm
Wanna see the ocean?
Wanna see the ocean after biking there?
Wanna see the ocean after biking there with cool people?
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/302607
It's actually less steep and shorter to do this route than to go from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz, but the climb up La Honda is steep.

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

Caltrain’s Warm Planet Bike Station in Jeopardy

2012-01-26T16:12:00.000-08:00

A timely article in this mornings Streetsblog San Francisco. My friend and co-chair, Shirley Johnson of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Bikes on Board program is quoted in the article.

The article goes on to state that,

Warm Planet Bikes has provided more and more Caltrain commuters a secure place to park their bikes at the Fourth and King Street Station in downtown San Francisco in recent years. But the shop could soon shut down without continued support from the public transportation agencies it relies on. Though Caltrain is developing an agreement to support the shop, it may not come until it’s too late.

“Caltrain needs to provide interim funding for uninterrupted service of bike parking at Fourth and King,” said Shirley Johnson, vice chair of the Caltrain Bicycle Advisory Committee and head of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Bikes ONBoard Project. “To expect Warm Planet to stay open without paying for it, that’s just not possible.”

When the bike shop opened in January 2008, it had room to provide attended parking for up to 100 bikes. But over the years, demand has grown, and managers have sacrificed more and more retail space to accommodate parking and avoid “bumping” bike commuters the way Caltrain often does.

I'll comment more on the latest at Warm Planet Bikes at a later time.

Plan Bay Area - Santa Clara Valley Version

2012-01-19T12:04:00.000-08:00

Last night I had the opportunity to attend Plan Bay Area, the public forum highlighting the new Regional Transportation Plan for the seven counties surrounding San Francisco Bay. The intent was to introduce the plan and allow for public comment. This was my first time to get involved on a regional basis for transportation issues affecting the Bay Area and did I come away both surprised and shell shocked.

Sheriff removing
protester from podium

Let's just say that there never really was a meeting. From the start it got hijacked by a group intent on disrupting everything. From the very start with MTC Commissioner and San Jose City Council Member Sam Liccardo's opening remarks the group of demonstrators attempted to take control of the meeting. At one point a Santa Clara County Sheriffs officer had to escort one individual who had approached the speakers podium. Not wanting to wait until the formal comment period angry participants just stood up and attempted to talk over the speaker.
The plan was to intimidate participants who had an opposing view from making their own public comment. Only one brave women spoke in opposition to the group.The meeting was supposed to be an open venue for Santa Clara County residents to share their concerns for their county ended up being just another stop for this group. Many mentioned that this was their fourth meeting that they have attended, going against the spirit of having one forum in each county for local residents.

The sad part is that their voice, their opinions were wasted by their behaviour. Attempting to state your views and then questioning the very venue in which they are voiced doesn't do much for a group's credibility. I sure this will not be the last we hear from this group.

iPhone App Review - SJ Transit Lite v 2.0

2012-01-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

New update for VTA Transit app

Category: Navigation

Updated: Jan 17, 2012

Version: 2.2.1

Size: 3.2 MB

Language: English

See previous review for SJ Transit.

Tuesday the author of VTA Transit Lite posted a completely new version of an existing transit app on the iTunes store. This was most likely to coincide with VTA's normal January schedule of changes. As I mentioned in the previous review the app was not much better than the traditional paper maps that it was intended to replace.

Map view showing bus stops

Even with my lack of support for this app it will never really be useful until there is some type of GPS or "Next Bus" type of functionality included with it. Given the spread out suburban nature of the Santa Clara Valley, many times it doesn't matter what time the bus should be there, but where is it now and when is expected to arrive at its destination. This is especially important in the valley due to the less frequent schedules compared with San Francisco's which see buses every 5 minutes on some routes. If you miss one bus another will be along shortly.

I checked out the new version on iTunes and the screenshots looked promising so I downloaded the app even after reading that it was prone to crash. After downloading the app the user is required to download the data portion of the program; a 10MB file containing the time schedules. This is a good idea since it frees users from having to download a new app for each VTA schedule change. The download took less than five minutes.

Route View showing
both directions

After the download was complete I started the SJ Transit Lite back up and was elated at the many positive changes the author made to the app. A long awaited "favorite" star was there to make sorting through a long list of routes easier. All bus stops were listed alphabetically and on a google map (see screenshot above). This made it easy to "favorite" your daily bus stops. For example I could favorite the 64 southbound stop at Diridon station. By instantly pulling up that station I could see when the next bus is expected at its timeline along the remainder of the route. I could also show the route on the map with a pin point of each bus stop along the way.

The author has included both the major time points as well as estimations of arrival times on all bus stops. You also have the ability to see only the time points or all bus stops with time estimations.

However....

Initially many users were never able to open the program due to crashes. Soon after posting the new version the author posted a new fix. I downloaded the new version and starting using it; going through all the new features. But my excitement wouldn't last long. Yesterday morning it would crash a few times but by evening it would crash once the app was opened and I haven't been able to get it to work since. Its sad because this had the look and feel of really being a useful app, one that is sorely needed in this valley. So until this major flaw gets fixed I guess I just wait for a new VTA app to come along. Whenever that is.

SJ Transit Lite on iTunes

Bike Share in Paris - Presenting Velib

2012-01-18T13:52:00.000-08:00

Bike Share is Coming to the Silicon Valley

Bike Share is due to arrive in our part of the world by late summer if all goes well. Over the next few months I will be highlighting bike share systems around the U.S. and the world. But first here is a video clip on the Parisian model called Velib. This systems has over 20,000 available bicycles to share.

This video was produced by Bikes Belong, an advocacy organization based on Washington D.C. which seeks to get more people on bikes. That Simple.

Activism and creativity among the generations

2012-01-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

As many of my friends may know I am involved in a number of civic events, ventures, committees, and organizations. In general, those that deal along mainly traditional civic lines tend to skew higher in the age and maturity bracket. Those that tend to involve more creativity and less formal ties tend to attract a younger audience.

By traditional I am referring to neighborhood associations, business associations, and some advocacy organizations. By more creative, less formal organizations I am referring to social organizations with a civic flavor such as bike party and riding groups, pop up type groups such as food carts groups etc., and groups seeking to create something new in their city whether it by an art event, food crawl, or spontaneous music event.

Traditional - I remarked to a friend the other day that the neighborhood association in which he is affiliated with skews predominately to older, retired, empty nesters who have lived in their home for over 15 years. Missing in his civic group are parents, singles, or single parents under the age of 55 or 60 years.

Creative - Likewise in other groups in which I belong, they involve mostly singles, single parents, a few with children, and if they own a home at all they may have only been living in it a short while. The funny thing is both of these organizations are effective in their own ways, but they might as well be on different planets as far as how they get the job done. So I'll start off by highlighting organization and social characteristics of each.

Characteristics of traditional groups consisting of older members.

Not as constrained with time so informal and formal face to face meetings predominate.
Authority is more specialized and hierarchical.
Decisions happen slower, sometimes out of a perceived need to be right or 100% accurate.
Tasks are delegated with long lead times.
Research takes longer.
Meeting are more formalized, members roles specialized.
Media and Communications are less effective (posters, fliers, phonebooks)
Groups are less diverse. Generally easier to have face to face with someone like you.

Younger groups tend to rely on some of the techno/social changes that have taken place over the last few years; therefore

Meetings are less formal
Participants are generally multitasking during meetings
Less hierarchy more collaboration. Far more use of online collaborative tools.
With more use of online social, office, and graphic arts tools participants produce media faster with more input from the group.
Communication is generally faster with the ability to choose between documents, emails, texts, collaborative tools, and smart phones.
Communication to members, constituents, or stakeholders also use a diverse set of communications tools, usually instantaneous. This also tends to get the word out to a wider more diverse audience.
Instead of only using libraries and government agencies, younger groups tend to do more research online.
Informal meetings and decisions can be handled online. Less need for more formal meetings.

One of the reasons the discussion amongst myself and members of more traditional groups started in the first place was not only the lack of age and other diversity in the participants but it has been getting harder and harder to attract more participants and get critical input from the community. Between careers, families, and just a tough job market many younger residents just don't have a lot of time to devote to civic affairs but that doesn't mean they still cannot participate.

A new way to advocate - Last year while attempting to advocate for a certain transportation policy decision with the county it dawned on me that we didn't have the numbers to get our message across. Traditional you get the phone tree ready and start dialing enough people to show up wearing your color of choice to show solidarity in the crowd. Some of those in your group will speak within their allotted two minutes of public comment.

In our case we didn't have a large group and we had to skip the colored T-Shirts but we were affective. We were able to make our presence felt on all fronts; a letter write campaign to the media, traditional snail mail and emails to elected officials, and phone calls to elected officials staff members.

One interested participant while working (coding) at home was able to view the Supervisory meeting from the comfort of his home while also looking after his child. He as able to contact supervisors staff through phone and email. In all with a greater email, phone, letter, and public comment input we were able to call it a success. In this case a physical presence was always needed.

Likewise your group can also be respectful of their precious time by using online surveys, calendars, email-blasts etc. One group I know just published their last paper newsletter. Formal board meetings can also be divided between the more mundane agenda items, and that portion of the meeting devoted to informative presentations and a social hour. Invite those with limited schedules to come for the speaker series or the social hour. That way those pressed for time will fit it easier to stay for just the "fun" part

Of course now days your are seeing more electronic media in the form of online petitions. Twitter has also been very effective. Last fall when General Motors ran ads in a UCLA student newspaper showing cyclists as "40 year old virgin" stereotypes, the cycling community responded quickly. In just over 24 hours GM had announced that they were pulling the ad.

Don't rely on the same (static) web page that you have been using for the last ten years (yes this happens). Use your web page but also consider Twitter, Facebook, wikis, Google Docs or other types of social or cloud based computing. Figure that (at least here in the Silicon Valley) your readers may be seeing it on a mobile device (Apple iOS or Android). Again use surveys, accept civil comments, use forums, what ever helps to provide a two way type of feedback.

One neighborhood association president I know complained when a candidate city council had misrepresented their endorsement of the candidate (their bylaws forbid them to endorse any candidate for any race), I asked her if she had a web page on their site that publicly and specifically stated just what they endorse she said that they had nothing like that. With that page they could easily link it to Google +, Facebook, or Twitter posts to easily let the community know just where they stand.

Now if you have traditionally used one or two key members to get out the monthly newsletter now is the time to consider a more looser communications policy. Allow for additional members to collaborate and respond. Take advantage of the "Wisdom of the Crowds".

So if you belong to a civilly minded group that skews to the older more traditional way of doing things. Try to include younger, more time pressed individuals and families that would love to contribute but need some flexibility. Allow them to contribute in small doses in other ways and ask for their opinions outside of formal meetings. With greater numbers of committed members you'll achieve greater success in your community.

January 17, 2012 - Cycling Events in the Bay Area and Beyond

2012-01-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

San Jose Bike Party

Friday, January 20, 2012 8:00
This Month's Theme:
Circus.
Location: Campbell Community Center at Winchester and Campbell Aves.

Do you remember when you were a kid riding your bike and pretending you were a superhero flying through the skies? Well thats exactly what November's theme is supposed to remind you of. Dress up and make your own costume so you can be your own home made superhero.

Unless someone makes a superhero that can actually change the weather it's time to watch the skies again and be prepared. We are in the season where rain is a possibility but we could get lucky.

Santa Cruz Bike Party
Saturday, January 28, 2012
6:00 - 11:30 PM
In historic surfer slang, a "Hoedad" is a poseur who hangs out at beaches and other surfer hangouts, trying to evoke the image; yet never actually rides waves.

Legend has it this name (preserved in early 1960's beach b-movies) originated in the brussel sprouts fields jus...t north of town, where the surfers had to cross to access the secluded coves up there, sometimes dodging garden-tool-wielding old farmers. One dude made it across the field, only to chicken out of actual surf riding... his buddies taunted him,"You just one of them Hoe-Daddy-O's!"

This theme is easy... dress up like a fake surfer, a farmer, or anything in between.

Last Sunday of the Month Ride Willow Glen to Los Gatos

Saturday, January 29, 2012

2:30 - 7:00 PM

~20 mile medium pace ride. (No one will be drop from the ride).
Will stop at LeBoulanger in Los Gatos for late afternoon brunch.
THERE IS NO FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND!

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, February 10, 2011 7:30 PM

http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/

Woodside > Pacific Ocean > Woodside

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

San Jose Downtown Parking

2012-01-15T21:18:00.000-08:00

This little tidbit from the San Jose Downtown Association Newsletter...

Headlines from the Valley
10 years ago:
December 2001 - The City Council agreed downtown was short 4,625 parking spaces and approved a plan to build two new garages on the site of The Greyhound bus depot and just north of the DeAnza Hotel (now the Axis high-rise condo tower).

It's amazing how times change. The city has found it increasingly difficult to keep city garages at capacity or even full enough to help pay for the bonds that built them.

Innovating our way to congestion

2012-01-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Valley Fair 1958

Like the greeting "Aloha" which is heard constantly in the Hawaiin Islands to inflect several meanings, here in the Silicon Valley you hear the word "innovation" so many times you just want to call a hyperbolic time out.

In almost any San Jose city function or staff presentation, the word is often used in a sentence such as, "San Jose is an innovative city', as if some of the Valley's fairy dust somehow sprinkles everything done here even if it is not tech related. At a neighborhood meeting several months back, after hearing the word proudly proclaimed yet another time, I had to stand up list examples of real civic innovation, mentioning the work on Broadway in the Times Square area of New York, Portland's Greenways , along with San Francisco growing use of "parklets". These I mentioned are real urban innovations. I have yet to see anything that I could add to the list from this area.

Valley Fair & Santana Row 2007

In Monday's (December 19, 2011) edition of the San Jose Mercury News the "I" word was used in a front page article in both the heading and the first paragraph no less ("New York throws down the innovation gauntlet") and in the first sentence in an opinion piece ("VTA's creative solution require Caltrans' help") written by Michael T. Burns, General Manager for VTA the Santa Clara countywide transportation agency. See also last Wednesday's post, "San Jose's coming of age?"

The first paragraph sets the stage

Focus and innovation. Here in Silicon Valley, these are words you usually hear from high-tech firms, but the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is taking these principles to heart. We are looking to employ focus and innovation in a new way to accelerate highway projects and get them done more cheaply. And we need Caltrans' help.

VTA is responsible for planning, designing and, in some cases, constructing highway improvements in Silicon Valley, as well as for building and operating the public transit system. On a daily basis, we move 700,000-plus commuters along our county's highways, not including the number of commuters coming in from neighboring counties. Because of this, VTA has a close and important working relationship with Caltrans. VTA has several high-priority highway projects awaiting funding, while at the same time, local, state and federal funding sources are diminishing. Not satisfied to accept the status quo, VTA is looking for creative solutions to address our county's highway needs. (emphasis in bold is my own)

The opinion piece goes on to describe how "simple interchange improvement in Santa Clara County competes for staff time with the building of the new Bay Bridge; the reconstruction of Doyle Drive, which is the gateway to San Francisco off the Golden Gate Bridge; and the $2 billion Devil's Slide project". But making administrative and approval processes more efficient to build more congestion is like handing two large spoons to the

In addition to the 700,000 commuters mentioned above, according to MTC, there was a 47% increase in the number of commuters to Santa Clara County from surrounding areas, with over 100,000 daily commuters coming from the east.

The simple interchange improvement is one of the most congested intersections in the Bay Area handling traffic coming directly into the county from Gilroy, Los Banos and Salinas from the south valley, Santa Cruz from the coast, Oakland and the East Bay from the North East and San Francisco and the Peninsula from the northern peninsula.

The expansion of two regional shopping areas (Valley Fair and Santana Row) have now "necessitated" the expansion of this interchange. And when the construction dust has settled Valley Fair is seeking to expand the center with two additional anchor stores along with small shops. Meanwhile downtown San Jose has a Ross discount store and San Jose's small number of traditional merchant districts such as Japantown and Willow Glen find it more difficult to compete.

By concentrating the massive single use regional shopping development near a equally massive freeway interchange we have a created an auto dominated, congested, polluted gateway to the city of San Jose. While the state, with the recent passage of SB 32 and SB 375 seeks to reduce the region's congestion and auto pollution (through a reduction in VMT or Vehicle Miles Travelled) and the city seeks to do the same as stated in the recently prepared 2040 General Plan

Most recently Sam Liccardo, the council representative for the downtown and airport area also used "the word" in a Sunday, Juanuary 8 Op/Ed piece ("Redevelopment is gone, but downtown can thrive") to describe the city's Economic develoment team. The essay went on to describe all of the great improvements being made to the downtown and airport areas. I would caution however that anything that increases parking in the downtown core is not "innovative". Innovative would be tyring to bring more residents, employees, and visitors downtown without increasing the demand for parking.

I applaud the desire to make the process more innovative and efficient, however we need to realize that our innovations haven't done much to decrease our freeway frustrations. With an economy that is struggling, most Silicon Valley freeways and expressway are at a standstill at rush hour and beyond. With shopping activity having been promoted in mall and big box configurations roadways around these developments are packed during the weekends and holidays.

We can do better. But instead of wearing a false badge of innovation on our sleeve, lets look to other cities and what they have done. Long Beach has promoted the bicycle as a way for businesses in each of their four traditional business district to attract customers, Minneapolis attributes its growth in bicycling and walking to an array of new street improvements such as more bike lanes and special bicycle-and-pedestrian boulevards, and Los Angles has expand their Metrolink rail system.

So for 2012 let's just focus on tackling the big projects, the useful projects because they are right. Let's save real innovation to the tech industry with its R&D labs and rapid obsolescence. So for 2012 lets all agree that the "I" word is now officially off limits.

Online Resources

I280/880 Stevens Creek Interchange
http://bikesiliconvalley.org/content/1747

I-280/I-880/Stevens Creek Boulevard Improvements Project Website

photos: Buena Vista Neighborhood Association

View Larger Map

Comments on VTA Chair Yeagers remarks - January 5, 2012

2012-01-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

Silicon Valley's push to lead the Bay Area

On January 5, 2012 incoming Chair to the VTA Board of Directors Ken Yeager spoke about his goals for the new year (complete text of his remarks). His three main themes of his speech was:

The ambitious transportation goals the county has over the next decade.
The innovative response by VTA towards those goals (efficiencies, cost containment, etc),and
The lack of political effectiveness that the county has given its population and employment size.

Ambitious transportation goals over the next decade

The county of Santa Clara has an impressive list of transportation projects over the next ten years, involving rail, transit, freeways, roads, and expressways. As Mr. Yeager mentioned the 880-280-Stevens Creek Interchange, which is one of the most congested in the Bay Area, is due for a makeover beginning in September of this year. Work is currently in progress on the Tully Road 101 interchange. At last month's VTA Board meeting the new BART extension to the Silicon Valley was formally announced.

VTA is currently in the implementation stages on a Bus Rapid Transit system through the valley as well as a new upgraded Express Bus System beginning Monday, January 9, 2012.

VTA innovations, structural efficiencies, and cost containment strategies

As Chair Yeager mentioned in his opening remarks, VTA's political and administrative efficiencies are due to its consolidated structure. Transit operations and management, which includes VTA bus and light rail service, congestion management, as well as sales tax authority are all under one roof.

VTA is not only the "bus operator" but also the name given to the umbrella organization of these three components. The transit portion is an operational entity and actually does very little construction projects. (For more detail see VTA's own description of its structure)

The congestion management (CMA, or Congestion Management Agency) portion of VTA is the bulk of the VTA umbrella organization. It acts as the local funding arm of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), while also coordinating road, expressway, freeway, bicycle, and rail projects in the area. It also works with cities in local monitoring regional guidelines such as Greenhouse Gas Emissions goals, VMT reduction goals (Vehicle Miles Traveled), and Complete Streets Guidelines. Complete Streets guidelines help to ensure that new roadway improvements also take into account pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, the disabled, and the elderly.

Congestion management agencies were formed by California State legislation. These agencies are organized to receive, administer, and fund projects that are from funds outside the area such as Federal and State funds.

Local sales, fuel, and property taxes to fund transportation projects are generally referred to "Self Help" funds in that they are voted on by local residents with the intent to tax themselves. In California sales tax measures are administered by the state's Franchise Tax Board which collects the taxes and apportions these taxes back to the city, county, CMA, or transit authority. As part of the sales tax initiative "self help" taxes usually include a watchdog group or committee associated with the funds. In this instance the CAC, or Citizens Advisory Committee serves that function.

Santa Clara County's VTA is administered by the same board for all three functions under the VTA umbrella. The board whose makeup is determined by a formula to ensure adequate representation from the big city (San Jose), smaller cities, and county representation as well. As Yeager states "this is not necessarily true for all counties".

To contrast with Santa Clara County San Mateo County has different organizations with different leadership, meeting in different locations. The Transit Operator, SamTrans (9 members) meets once a month with its own board. The sales tax authority also known as the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (7 members) meets each month with a different board, and the Congestion Management Agency (City/County Association of Governments) meets in a different city with a completely different board. (23 members) representing all San Mateo cities as well as county government.

With a CMA of over 20 members from a geographically disperse (bayside and Pacific Oceanside cities) county such as San Mateo it becomes increasing difficult to manage from a political and administrative point of view. Added to this fact that Caltrain (Caltrain JPB or Joint Powers Board) also shares staff and office space with these county agencies and you can see how unwieldy it can be. Only one individual within all of San Mateo County sits on all three agency boards.

Cyclists Frustrations - Case in Point

One of the many frustrations shared by cyclists in San Mateo County is this fractured structure and its effect on getting adequate bicycle infrastructure built within the county. Funds coming from outside sources (from the MTC) are administered out of the county's CMA, or Cities and County Association of Governments(C/CAG), however the self-help or funds originated by local sales taxes are administered out of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority. Neither organization has a bicycle coordinator that would help administer these bifurcated funds. The two agencies are even housed in different San Mateo County cities.

VTA has created a extemely useful resource called Bicycle Technical Guidline (BTG). The BTG manual is a set of optimum standards and best practices for roadway and bikeway design. VTA was able to write, adopt, and revise this excellent resource due to adequate staffing at the countywide level. It is highly unlikely that this would happen in San Mateo County given its current transportation management structure.

Alameda County Tries a Different Approach

In an effort to streamline their agencies and make them more effective, just last year Alameda county combined their sales tax authority and congestion management agency into one organization. What used to be the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (ACCMA) and the Alamaeda County Transportation Improvement Authority (ACTIA) is now the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC).

Santa Clara County's push for greater regional representation

The Silicon Valley, which in the past was referred to as the Valley of Heart's Delight has found it hard to shake its rural and agricultural routes vis a vis its more urbane neighbors to the north (namely San Francisco). Commerce, banking, shipping, rail, and trade along with all of the other political, administrative, and organization functions traditional found a home in either San Francisco or Oakland.

Organizations such as the regents of the University of California, ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments), BAAQMD (Bay Area Air Quality Management District), BART, MTC, are all located in either San Francisco or Oakland. Civic and urban policy groups such as the Commonwealth Club, and SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research) are also located in San Francisco along with major media outlets in print, radio & television (see map below).

Similar to the passionate scene in the first Godfather movie where the older brother "Fredo" tells his younger brother Michael Corleone that he should have been chosen to be the family Don, sometimes San Jose and the Silicon Valle feel the same way. With 25% of the Bay Area's population they feel that like Fredo Corleone in the "I'm Smart" scene from the movie Godfather II, they "were passed over" and its not what they "wanted".

Now as Chair Yeager states in his remark with over one-quarter of the regions population and jobs its time San Jose got the respect it deserves; not just sent out to take care of some Mickey Mouse nightclub somewhere.

Chair Yeager is maybe the first locally elected official to publicly state that we're "smart and want some respect". If you notice the map below I have placed markers showing the offices of regional transportation and planning agencies, media offices, and leading civic organizations. With a city of over 1 million residents downtown San Jose is not home to one of these organizations. Not even the local transportation planning and transit operator is located downtown (its actually 5.5 miles to the north). Same for any media organizations. This does a city of its size a disservice. With only one major corporate headquarters based downtown the area lacks the vitality that a downtown Oakland or San Francisco has to offer.

Conclusion

So although I applaud Supervisor Yeager's plea for more political representation, somehow I get the feeling that it will only mean more more of the same auto oriented and prioritized expansion. What this area does not need is more expressway expansion (along with an increase in speed and volume), more freeway interchange expansions, which severely impact struggling neighborhoods, and more auto oriented benefits to residents who choose to live at the south end of the valley and work in the north and on the peninsula. Let's hope that this year does bring greater representation but also great wisdom at how we look at our transportation options. Happy New Year.

San Francisco Bay Area Agencies, Organization, and Media Resources

View San Francisco Bay Area Agencies and Organizations in a larger map

Incoming VTA chair's remarks - Ken Yeager January 5, 2012

2012-01-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

The following remarks were given by Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager the new Valley Transportation Authority Chair of the Board for 2012. These opening remarks were given at the begining of the VTA Board's first meeting of the new year.

Please refer to this link for comments to Board Chair Yager's remarks.

As a member of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for the past 11 years, I am honored to serve as chair during what will prove to be a banner year.

In 2012 my goal is for VTA to do a better job of telling the story of how it has accomplished so much and why we need to change the Bay Area's transportation, political, and administrative landscape so that we can accomplish even more.

It is my belief that few Santa Clara County residents know the VTA story and even fewer people know it beyond our borders. In fact it wasn't until 2007 when I became a commissioner on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and interacted with MTC commissioners and staff that I learned how little other commissioners knew about our transportation projects. I was always pleased to give them tours of our county so they saw first hand how innovative we are.

One reason why VTA can achieve so much is that is the only such agency in the Bay Area where transit, congestion management, and sales tax authority are all under one roof. This makes us extremely efficient. Most counties have a different governing board for each function, and those boards are often at odds with each other. Each of those also has its own administrative staff, which is duplicative and expensive. But here at VTA, it is one board and one staff, with everything coordinated.

VTA's solid planning has built trust with voters. The willingness of the residents of Santa Clara County to tax themselves has allowed VTA to undertake massive infrastructure improvements.

We are just a few months away from breaking ground on construction that will finally bring BART to San Jose. This will be the year's most exciting project. Nearly 5,500 jobs will be created during the construction of the line, track, systems and station elements of the Berryessa Extension. An additional 4,000 indirect jobs will be created to to activities related to this contract. Furthermore, 3,800 jobs will be created to support construction of the station campus areas, access roadways, parking structures and transit centers. All total, more than 14,000 jobs will be created. (See link below)

The main contract for this project was $77 million less than the engineer's estimate. Moreover, we anticipate a more condensed construction schedule than originally planned. This didn't all happen by chance. VTA staff was will to go beyond the conventional practice in awarding of contracts to make it easier for the contractor to work faster and cheaper.

Adding to the cost savings an the anticipated accelerated construction schedule was the Board's adoption of the first Project Labor Agreement for VTA. This agreement promises fair wages and a smoothly run project. Congratulations go to the Board and staff for making this happen.

Santa Clara County is what is known as a "self-help" county. Because we have our own sales tax dedicated to transportation, we have been able to address many of our county's transportation infrastructure needs on our own.

However, our forward thinking has worked against us when it comes to securing funding through MTC, the regional governing body that makes decision regarding transportation funding for the nine-county Bay Area.

Santa Clara County has one quarter of all the Bay Area's residents, and one quarter of all of its jobs, yet Santa Clara County doesn't even come close to receiving one quarter of the regional transportation dollars administered by MTC.

The problem is compounded by the fact that representation on MTC is not proportional to population. With one quarter of the Bay Area population, Santa Clara County has only one-eighth of the representation on MTC. That is why I will continue to work closely with (California) Assembly member Jim Beall and our two Santa Clara County commissioners, Dave Cortese and Sam Liccardo, to urge the State Legislature to pass AB57, which will add an extra seat on MTC for the City of San Jose.

Another example of VTA challenging the status quo is its proposal to create the CalTRANS Innovative District or "iDistrict" at VTA headquarters. This new model will streamline CalTRANS operations in Santa Clara County, resulting in the completion of more projects on time and on budget.

What better place to serve as an incubator for more efficient government and improved transportation technologies than the Silicon Valley. The success we have here can be replicated throughout the CalTRANS organization for the benefit of all Californians.

Another exciting project that demonstrates VTA's willingness to be cutting edge is Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT. By working with cities that have Santa Clara Street, The Alameda, and El Camino Real running through them, VTA will create a 17-mile transit route that will allow for buses to move more quickly, this increasing ridership, lowering costs, and raising farebox recovery.

In addition to transit, VTA will also be delivering highway improvements, including the opening of our first express lane in Santa Clara County. Additionally, two important freeway projects--the 880-280-Stevens Creek Interchange and the 101-Tully-Capitol-Yerba Buena corridor improvements--will go a long way toward easing congestion.

One of the many challenges facing us is Caltrain. As someone who has served on the Caltrain Board for 11 years, I know its problems are far from solved. Its budgetary problems almost shut it down last year. VTA stepped up to the plate and made sure it dept running. But fiscal problems remain that must be resolved.

Moreover, I believe it is essential that Caltrain become electrified. Although the fate of High Speed Rail remains unclear, I hope --at a minimum--we can use High Speed Rail money to electrify the tracks, buy new rolling stock, and construct grade-separations. WE may not all agree on High Speed Rail, but I hope we can speak with one voice in advocating for electrification.

I want to thank VTA staff or all the hard work they do. In my role on different transportation agencies throughout the region, I have seen firsthand how respected VTA staff is. They are well known for their diligence and competence. Additionally, they are a pleasure to work with.

From bus drivers, to mechanics, to planners, to schedulers, VTA employees are the ones who interact with our public and provide the best service possible. They truly are our greatest assets. Thank you for all that you do.

In closing, I ask my fellow Board members to help VTA get its fair share of regional transportation dollars and to promote the idea of the iDistrict. If we can succeed on these fronts, we can achieve even more to address the transportation needs of our County.

I know my fellow Board members are as excited as I am about the year ahead. I believe the challenges will require all of us to put in more time than in past years, bu the rewards will be worth it. All of us are in public service to make a difference an to improve the quality of life for our constituents. This is a year that the VTA can make significant progress towards that goal.

With that said, lets get to work.

See related post - Jobs or Job-Years - Mercury News asks the question.

Jobs or Job-Years - Mercury News asks the question.

2012-01-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Insfrastructure, Jobs, and Recessions

Given these tough times news of new, fully funded infrastructure projects are highly welcomed by cities, labor, and ancillary services, such as restaurants and construction suppliers. But in a recent Mercury News article and editorial the paper highlights the propensity of construction proponents to well, stretch the truth a little. The paper goes on to describe the difference between jobs and job years:

Job-years is an excellent tool to calculate the amount of work needed to complete a project. A job-year is one year of work for one person; a new construction job that lasts five years is five job-years. It is a more precise measure because an individual job may last for six months or a year or forever.

Recently this topic came up in recent job creation claims by the California High Speed Rail Association and the BART in promoting its East Bay extension into the Silicon Valley. Also Santa Clara County Supervisor and VTA chair Ken Yeager commented on local BART construction jobs in his New Year remarks. The paper goes on to tie the confusion to agency credibility:

In a weak economy like today's, construction jobs are a factor to consider for projects like stadiums and transit systems. But the main consideration has to be the long-term value to the community, once construction is finished. What's especially unfortunate about high-speed rail is that the real number of likely jobs, some 60,000, is substantial. Only because 1 million were touted is the rail authority's credibility further damaged.

It's a cautionary tale for others. VTA, take note.

State high-speed rail vows to show real job figures (Mercury News 12-22-2011)

Mercury News editorial: Jobs or job-years? Be sure to ask the question (1-7-2012)

Incoming VTA chair's remarks - Ken Yeager January 5, 2012

Caltrain to propose fare increases

2012-01-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

Public Hearing

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board will hold a public hearing and take public comment on proposed adjustments to its Codified Tariff effective July 1, 2012.

Proposals to be considered include:

Additional Regional Clipper® Implementation Measures- Increasing the cost of paper One-way and Zone Upgrade tickets by up to 25 cents per zone and Day passes by up to 50 cents per zone. Note: The cost of a One-way ride will remain the same for those using a Clipper card. Monthly Pass prices will remain the same. For proposed fare chart, click HERE (PDF, 15K).
- Elimination of the 8-ride Ticket.

Go Pass- Increasing the cost of the Go Pass by $10 to $165, and setting the minimum level at $13,750.
Sales Period
- Lengthening the sales period for monthly transportation passes and parking permits from the 9th of the month to the 15th of the month.

The public hearing will be held:
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 at 10 a.m.
Caltrain Administrative Office1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos
Prior to the hearing, comments may be sent by mail, e-mail or phone to:
Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, JPB Secretary
P.O. Box 3006, San Carlos, CA 94070-1306
changes@caltrain.com - 1.800.660.4287

Public Meetings
Caltrain will hold four public meetings to present the proposal and receive comments. The meetings will take place in:
Gilroy – Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.
Gilroy Senior Center, 7371 Hanna St.
San Francisco – Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.
San Francisco Tennis Club, 645 Fifth St.
Mountain View – Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.
City Council Chambers, 500 Castro St.
San Carlos – Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.
Caltrain Administrative Office, 1250 San Carlos Ave.
The proposed fare chart will be available by Jan. 16 at http://www.caltrain.com/ or by calling 800-660-4287 (TTY only 650.508.6448).

Para servicio de traducción en Español, llame a Caltrain al 650.508.6242 por lo menos tres días antes de las audiencias.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager to chair VTA

2012-01-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

This evening Ken Yeager will assume the role as VTA (Valley Transportation Authority) chair representing the County of Santa Clara. Ken represents the 4th District, which includes the cities of Campbell and Santa Clara, as well as west San Jose and the Burbank and Cambrian neighborhoods.

Ken previously served six years on the San Jose City Council, first elected in November 2000 and re-elected to a second term in March 2004. Prior to that, Ken served two terms as a Trustee of the San Jose Evergreen Community College District, from 1992-2000.
Ken is an avid cyclist as well as a long-time advocate for expanding parks and trails throughout the County.

In December 2008, Ken was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the board of the California Air Resources Board (ARB), the statewide agency responsible reducing air pollution and combating global warming. He also sits on the local Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD).

Ken also sits on the Joint Policy Committee that coordinates the regional planning efforts between ABAG, BAAQMD, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), and the Bay Conservation and Development. He also serves as the MTC appointment as Director to the Caltrain Joint Powers Board.

Ken will be taking over the board at a time when the county is seeking to expanded its demographic and political power within the area. Santa Clara is seeking additional representation on the regional MTC Board of Commissioners. With one quarter of the San Francisco Bay Area's population Ken hopes to increase representation to about a quarter of the Board. Doing so would increase funding for key transportation projects, which county transportation officials believe is long overdue.

Ken will be replacing Mountain View Council member Margaret Abe-Koga who will remain on the VTA board.

Margaret Abe-Koga

Santa Clara to Diridon Station capital improvements almost complete

2012-01-05T12:53:00.001-08:00

New underground passageway
is now complete.

South Terminal Station Improvement Project

Phase I - Construction is almost complete at the Santa Clara and Diridon San Jose Caltrain Stations on track, signaling, and platform improvements. These improvements fit into a larger plan to upgrade the Caltrain system in preparation for electrification in 2015. With a new signal and track improvements between the two stations track capacity will increase. Due to the current reduced capacity a slight delay in the Caltrain system can have effects on other train lines. The total cost of Phase I of this project is $52 million which is funded through Federal, State, Regional, and Local sources.

View from Santa Clara Station

SE to downtown San Jose. New platform

improvements are visible in the background

(just before the train).

Most riders coming into Diridon station have noticed that the train slows to a crawl on the last two miles before reaching the station. Now with the new system trains will not only come into Diridon faster, but the system will allow for additional trains. The new improvements also added an additional track to the Santa Clara Station which will require not only an additional platform but a safe passageway to the platform as well.

Two new tracks (four platforms at 1,200 feet in length) are being added to Diridon Station. With five different train operations (Caltrain, Amtrak Coast Starlight, Amtrak Capitol Corridor, ACE, and Union Pacific freight trains) using the station it can get a bit hectic at times.

Phase II - This phase will consist of the addition of an additional mainline track which will allow for operational flexibility north of the station benefit the Caltrain, ACE, and Capitol Corridor systems. This will allow these train lines to increase service levels in the future. The total cost of Phase II of the project is $37 million.

New platform

improvements are

almost done.

Caltrain by the Numbers

Passengers: 11.9 million annually

Trains: 98 weekdays, 32 Saturdays, 28 Sundays

Stations: 32

Track Miles: 50 mainline and 27 - commute hour only.

Terminals: San Francisco, San Jose, and Gilroy

Looking North.
Concrete work on right
will include skylighting
within the passageway.

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

High Line Park
Photo: High Line Park

Happy New Year

I hope everyone was able to take some time off at the end of the year and reflect on the inspirations and challenges that we experienced over the last 12 months. Hopefully you were also able to sit and figure out new goals and challenges for the new year.

I've spent some time thinking about how to make this blog both interesting and relevant to those who desire to see positive changes in their communities. Living in the Silicon Valley area of the San Francisco Bay, I have come to expect dynamic changes in certain areas especially the technology sector; but in other areas, well change and innovation is a bit disappointing. In a land blessed with ideal weather, great soil and beautiful mountains and shores we still spend much of our time indoors, inactive, eating overly processed foods that are grown more than a time zone away. It's sad to see that outdoor dining is more common in Quebec, Canada (where it is 0 degrees Fahrenheit right now), or that an outdoor activity such as cycling is more popular in places like Copenhagen and Portland than in the Santa Clara Valley.

Outdoor dinning in Montreal

I plan to continue to discuss and write about key transportation, land use, and urban and livability issues. The need for effective and dynamic leadership in this area is crucial if we expect to continue to attract talented and creative workers to the area. In 2011, I was amazed at the positive changes taking place in other parts of the country. In a recent "Dream City" series Salon writer Will Doig highlighted 12 bold and imaginative projects in the works right now across the country (The Bold Urban Future Starts Now). From the Millennium Reserve Initiative in Chicago to the taking back of the Los Angles River down south the author highlights imaginative steps taken in these financially tough times.

Instead of running from our urban, transportation, energy , and livability issues, Americans are beginning to confront and embrace these issues head on. New residents are migrating to abandon inner cities which have been neglected for over 40 years and remaking them to reflect new values such as community, sustainability, local production and agriculture, and especially exercising new powers in local leadership.

Much of this is due to the localizing effects of new and mobile technology. Some of it is due to a new generation that eschews the suburbs, shuns auto ownership and seeks to connect to others not just online but in their neighborhoods as well. With ubiquitous Wi/Fi, who wants to drive one hour to work isolated and unproductive. That time could be spent with someone else doing the driving, freeing up time to catch up on reading, work, or just to talking with a fellow passenger.

Of course I plan to cover local issues as well, such as regional transportation plans, policies, and financing (Wonky), BART to San Jose, Caltrain, highway and road funding, and of course bike culture such as San Jose Bike Party. In addition I plan to cover issues of a national concern such as:

Bike Sharing
The drop in auto usage and ownership.
The shift to local retail.
The resurgence of intercity bus travel
The New Urbanism - New ways of living, working, playing and raising families in America's new urban frontier.
The challenge of infrastructure funding
New ideas in livability.

So feel free to contact me to add any additional ideas. These are exciting times.

San Jose's coming of age?

2011-12-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

As San Jose passes the million resident mark several key indicators reveal that this bedroom community in the valley may actually be growing into a real city. The last few years have witnessed the proposal, planning, and design of several large projects, including a sports venue and transportation projects including high speed rail, a new ballpark, a BART extension, a major freeway interchange makeover, and Bus Rapid Transit.

With a world renowned high tech industry, a growing population, and those key infrastructure projects just mentioned, San Jose has recently sought the need to flex its political muscle. Assembly member Jim Beall has introduced AB 57 which seeks to increase Santa Clara County (as well as Alameda County) representation on the Board of Commissioners at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). As Assembly member Beall states, "about 40 years ago, the [state] legislature created the MTC and its voting membership based on a 1970 snapshot of a San Francisco dominated Bay Area. Today, the Bay Area population and employment clusters have shifted. Santa Clara County has become the technological center of the world."

This same reasoning is VTA's argument in requesting Caltrans to open an office in San Jose. Caltran's 12 state-wide districts and district office map was drawn in 1961 when San Jose was one-fifth the size that it is today. VTA, the area's Congestion Management Agency (CMA) has cited the growing importance of the region as well as previous delays in getting approvals on key projects for the request. Except for the Bay Area district (No. 4), all Caltrans district offices are located in the district's largest cities. In the Bay Area San Francisco is only six miles away but San Jose, the largest city in the nine-county district is over 40 miles away.

The map below show another disadvantage in getting late to the political party. Whether it be transportation agencies, planning agencies, non-profit, or even key civic groups, not one is headquartered in Santa Clara County. Except for Caltrain's offices in the city of San Carlos, Bay Area agencies and non-profits are all located in either San Francisco or Oakland.

Until MTC representation gets resolved or a new office is opened, at least one positive change in the works is the 2012 opening of a SPUR office. SPUR is a San Francisco based urban planning and research organization that has been at the forefront of many of the city's key issues such as the central subway, park funding, a new Transbay Transit Center, the transformation of mid-Market St., as well as many others. Although a small step this will be a great first step in seeing the "power" center of gravity move further south along the bay.

To find out about future SPUR - San Jose events, join their mailing list.

View San Francisco Bay Area Agencies and Organizations in a larger map

Transportation in the news - the Bay Area and beyond

2011-12-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some key headlines around the Bay Area and beyond...

In local Bay Area News....

VTA Board approves first phase of BART extension to the Silicon Valley. Highlighted in a post last week, Skanska-Shimmick-Herzog, a joint venture of three construction design firms was awarded a $772 M contract to build the first phase of the BART extension to San Jose's Berryessa district. Santa Clara County's VTA board approved the contract to build the 10 mile extension in a unanimous vote last week.

Supervisor Chuck Yeager has been choosen to be the new the VTA Board chair the upcoming year. In a KLIV-AM radio interview Yeager stressed the need to keep bus and light rail ridership up due to the high fixed operating costs for the systems. Key projects for the year in Santa Clara county will be getting the Interstate 880/280 interchange project back on track (see below), the county's first BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), and the viability of Caltrain.

In another sign that the Silicon Valley continues to flex its political muscle, local transportation leaders have asked Caltrans to open a local office. Local VTA officials cite recent delays in major projects such as the Interstate 880/280 interchange, toll lanes on 237, and improvements to the south county portion of 101.

San Francisco County Transportation Authorities will conduct an open house this evening to highlight plans for the Bay Bridge western span. Earlier studies have concluded that the best option is to cantilever a path to the sides of the existing bridge.

A Napa County task force (Napa County Register) representing commercial, agricultural, and taxpayer interests within the county have recommended the agency put a half-cent transportation sales tax on the ballot next November. Napa County is one of many Bay Area agencies that have had to tackle the increasing cost of road maintenance.

Other Transportation News

Amanda Eaken comments on a recently published report by the Urban Land Institute. In a recent blog post titled "Has the sun set on suburban sprawl in Southern California?", she states that from now into the near future; or at least until 2035 the supply of single family homes on traditional lots will far exceed demand. Demand will come from central cities and concentrated developments near transit.

Proving that political and financial support for solo occupant auto commuting is often the unintended consequences of ill conceived policies, a recent New York Times article traces the history of this gift to suburban drivers. For those of you who read last week's posts, I recently mentioned my own bewilderment over such a anachronistic policy.

And don't forget this Friday, December 16th....San Jose Bike Party's Pajama ride on the East Side...don't forget to dress weather appropriate.

VTA board approves contractor for BART extension to Santa Clara County

2011-12-08T15:32:00.001-08:00

Skanska-Shimmick-Herzog, a joint venture of three construction design firms was awarded a $772 M contract to build the first phase of the BART extension to San Jose's Berryessa district. Santa Clara County's VTA board approved the contract to build the 10 mile extension in a unanimous vote yesterday.

Even though some board members juristiction's wont even come close to the expanded line, the sheer joy on many board members faces was appartent as the room broke into a loud and sustained applaus. Xavier Campos representing the city of San Jose stated that "This is the largest public works project since the airport and will put many people to work". Michael Burns, VTA General Manger touted the fact that the extension will "bring 13,000 jobs in addition to substantial trasnportation and economic effects".

Carl Guardino, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group spoke publicly to thank the board for the hard work that they had accomplished, seeing that "this was only 60 years in coming to San Jose". The board also praised Mr. Guardino on his leadership in putting the measure on the ballot to be passed by county residents by a slim 2,122 voter margin with 66.78% of the total votes.

This segment will expand the BART system to 120 track miles with 47 stations throughout the Bay Area. In addition to building the right of way and tracks the joint venture will also build two stations and the accompanying parking structures. The Milpitas station will be located at Montague Express and Capital Avenue connection to VTA's light rail system. The station will have a street level concourse with below ground boarding platforms.

The Berryessa station will be located between Berryessa and Marbury Roads with an elevated platform 35 feet above street level. Both stations will have bicycle parking rooms similar to the bike station in Palo Alto. On the Caltrain Bicycle Advisory Committee on which I serve we have been asking for an entry/rental system based off of the clipper card for the existing bicycle storage lockers. (Feel free to comment on your ideas). According to the VTA's Berressa Extension Fact Sheet the stations will be within a 12 minute bike ride for 260,000 residets.

Father Michael Engh and Bill Coleman: Finally, construction will begin on BART to Silicon Valley - (MercuryNews.com 12/7/2011)

BART-to-San Jose extension could open 18 months ahead of schedule (MercuryNews.com 12/7/2011)

Urban Triage - Imported to Detroit

2011-12-07T09:53:00.001-08:00

Recently Detroit (in this case the auto industry and more specifically Chrysler) has been using gritty images of the city of Detroit to sell cars. Using visual, musical, and deep throated vocal images of a city determined to make a comeback by building you a better car, the reality is much different.

The very product that Detroit produces has been one of the reasons for its current harsh reality. The reality is that the "Motor City" ceased to grow a long time ago. Its population peaked in 1960 at 1,849,000 and today stands at only 914,000. That decline has left the sprawling city with thousands of abandon homes. Whole neighborhoods exist with only one or two households on a street.

With a crumbling infrastructure that is increasing expensive to maintain the city has created the Detroit Works Project to perform one of America's first cases of urban triage. The city will now make the crucial decision about which neighborhood will stay and which will be reverted to brownfield status.

In the last two years the city under the direction of Detroit Works has demolished 2,000 structures with an additional 6,000 planned demolitions in the next two years. As Rainy Hamilton of Hamilton Anderson Associates states in the PBS Newshour news segment, "it's a density issue". The city can no longer maintain roads, streetlights, and sewers where there isn't a sufficient tax base. Neighborhoods will be triaged into categories of "steady, transitional, or distressed in an attempt to order and prioritize scarce city resources. Many of the city's neighborhoods will be ceded and the city's perimeter brought in to a more manageable level.

The question is, is Detroit the only city, or just the first in what we will see to selectively prune inefficient and expensive infrastructure and development. in an effort to focus on the core.

The question remains; what parts of your city do you prune first? Cue commercial.

"With Detroit on Brink of Financial Disaster, State Steps In" - PBS Newshour

Related article: Detroit needs a new app - hooking our youth back on cars

Congress, we can do better than this

2011-12-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Here in the San Francisco Bay area I, like many other employees have the opportunity to purchase transit passes (although we are slowly moving towards the Clipper Card payment system). Depending on your commuting needs these passes can be purchased for BART, Caltrain, several ferry lines, light rail, or one of the many bus systems in the Bay Area.

Three things are great about the program (in my case the administration is handled by WageWorks);

My company will pay half of the cost of my pass or Clipper Card purchases.
My contribution is deducted from my income over the year reducing my taxable income.
It's all handled through my paycheck. No need to make a separate payment.

Although I only purchase $70 in transit passes each month through my employer, there is a limit on the amount the IRS will allow an individual to reduce their income. Car commuters are also allowed to deduct car parking expenses from income but I was completely floored when I found this note included with my monthly statement from WageWorks.

Important Note: The temporary $230 monthly pre-tax transit limit set by Congress in 2009 will expire at the end of 2011. Beginning with the January 2012 benefit month, the pre-tax transit limit will decrease to $125 a month and any election amount over $125 will be deducted from your pay on an after-tax basis. Beginning with the January 2012 benefit month, the monthly pre-tax limit for parking will increase from $230 to $240.

So beginning next month solo (or not) vehicle drivers will have a greater tax advantage to use our streets, bridges, and freeways than public transit users

Contact your congress member today to tell them how wasteful this policy is, while also increasing traffic congestion and air pollution. Better yet go to this link on the Transportation for America website

Isaac Porras, founder of Solar Cycle takes his product on the road

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Isaac Porras founder of Solar Cycle
Power at the start of last year's
start of the New York to DC
Climate Ride.

I first met Isaac a couple of years ago in San Jose at a key time in his young life. Armed with a recent graduate degree in engineering, a new job at a local Silicon Valley technology company, and a budding interest in cycling advocacy and transportation advocacy in general. He had recently decided to part ways with his car and use his bicycle as a primary mode of transportation.

Isaac is young man in motion. After founding Solar Cycle to produce solar kits for cyclists, his Solar Cycle product was recently featured in Wired magazine's Gadget Lab, and he currently has two projects listed on Kickstarter's website.

Isaac grew up in San Jose, California and earned a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University. His father owns a sheet metal shop and he learned most of his manufacturing and design knowledge making sheet metal parts for customers.

Most of his experience after college has been in the semiconductor industry designing parts for machines, however after being laid off in 2009, he got rid of his car to save money. The difficulties of transitioning from a car to a bicycle led him start Solarcycle and design USB solar charging devices that attach to bicycles.

Isaac came to the realization that a smart phone would run out of power using the phone for GPS navigation, taking pictures, surfing the web, using apps, making phone calls, watching videos and listening to music. The possibility of attaching a solar panel on a bicycle to charge a phone and any other USB enabled device became apparent. That’s how Solarcycle was founded.

His product will allow cyclists to enjoy the advantage of their Smart Phones and other USB enabled devices on their trips without having to worry about running out of power. The lightweight, high-power, weatherproof Solar USB charger allows charging of any USB device directly from the sun.Isacc is extremely happy with the extent that is new product has sparked interest in the cycling community even among those of cloudy, rainy Portland, Oregon. In fact, Solarcycle has signed up for the next charity ride in May and the new Solarcycle Delux Kit will generate even more power!

TurningWheels for Kids big bike build this weekend

2011-12-05T17:44:00.001-08:00

The great local non-profit Turning Wheels 4 Kids will be having their annual Big Bike Build this weekend at the San Jose Convention Center's South Hall.

Who is Turning Wheels for Kids?
TurningWheels for Kids provides free bikes for children in need, to support better physical and emotional well-being. The program serves low-income children who are at high risk for obesity and related health issues and whose families do not have the means to support an active lifestyle that includes regular exercise.

What: Big Bike Build 2011 – 2,400 bikes for distribution to local charities.
When: Saturday, Dec. 10, 8:00 a.m.- noon (or until work is finished)
Where: San Jose McEnery Convention Center, South Hall
435 S. Market St., San Jose, CA (“Blue Tent” next to Marriott Hotel)

Sharkie, the San Jose Sharks mascot, will be on hand at 9:00 AM to pump up the crowd. We’re hopeful he’ll take to the track and race in the Great Tricycle Race, as he did last year

TurningWheels for Kids was the vision of Susan Runsvold, a nurse manager at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, who wanted to buy bikes at Christmas and give them to underprivileged children; children she believed might otherwise not receive any present from Santa.

Runsvold began what she hoped would be a tradition of collecting money from her friends and colleagues to purchase as many bikes as possible for holiday distribution. To date, TurningWheels for Kids has raised nearly $900,000, and it has recently started to visit local neighborhoods to assist with and teach children routine maintenance of the bikes. Thanks to two individual donors who pay all modest administrative fees, 100 percent of all public donations go to buying bikes and helmets.

Each year, TurningWheels for Kids buys flat-packed bikes from participating manufacturers, and rallies hundreds of volunteers for one day of group bike asssembly, with thousands of children receiving a brand new bike and safety helmet. A $100 donation covers the cost of a brand new bicycle, a kickstand and a well-fitting helmet.

For more information, visit TurningWheels for Kids.

Sign up now to participate in the fun. Go to the TurningWheels for Kids website to register for the fun!

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BICYCLE STOLEN OFF VTA BUS

2011-12-04T00:23:00.001-08:00

STOLEN Surley Long Haul Trucker stolen at 9:55 PM right off the front of a VTA bus. DT San Jose

VTA driver describes suspect as white male 24 years old 5'11" blue ball cap.

Contact with info or seen on Craigslist

Amtrak announces initial rollout of e-ticketing service on Downeaster line

2011-12-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

To those now accustomed to e-ticketing among the airlines Amtrak is now introducing the service on their Downeaster line. The Downeaster line which extends from Maine to Boston has initiated a new system in which travellers can print their tickets at home, or have them a pdf file emailed to their account. This would allow conductors to scan the barcodes from the file. Passengers with a smartphone would be able to open the pdf file attached to the email, display the barcode from the pdf file and show it to the conductor to allow her to scan the ticket information.

What this will also do is allow Amtrak customers the ability to change their reservations at the last minute. It will also give Amtrak the ability to have an updated passenger manifest at all times. This will not apply to all passengers as those who are on group packages, or who purchased their ticket through a travel agent will still use the current paper ticketing system. On a recent Thanksgiving weekend trip I noticed that conductors now carry with them a scanner/printer set allowing them to scan tickets or issue new tickets on the spot.

Although Amtrak issued a press release introducing the service as well as issuing a November 3rd Twiter tweet, I could find nothing on the Downeaster website describing the service.

Amtrak plans to expand the trial to California in February, and if that goes well, the system could roll out on a nationwide basis as early as this summer.

Note: The Downeaster line has recently announced an expansion project to extend the line from Portland to Freeport and Brunswick. Construction was started in August of 2010 and is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2012.

USA Today - Amtrak tests e-ticketing on Downeaster service.

Record Amtrak ridership over Thanksgiving holiday

2011-12-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in a recent post (Rail Highlights - Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor), the Thanksgiving holiday season is the busiest time of the year for Amtrak. On my Thanksgiving weekend trip it was standing room only in several cars. Well, according to Amtrak estimates it looks like this year will set a new ridership record with an estimated 720,000 passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday travel week.

Amtrak's Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Emmet Fremaux stated that this was "due in part to increased capacity and the recent introduction of free Wi-Fi service on several of Amtrak's routes". Comparing Thanksgiving 2011 to Thanksgiving 2010, there was an estimated 2.2 percent increase in ridership nationwide. The previous Thanksgiving ridership records was set in 2010 with 704,446 passengers.

Amtrak gives credit to their operation of every available passenger rail car in its fleet and the scheduling of extra trains to accommodate additional passengers in the Northeast and on the West Coast. This was due in part to the slightly larger equipment fleet this year due to rehabilitated and refurbished railcars and locomotive engines that were recently restored to service.

Yet another Bay Area city faces costly road repair decisions

2011-11-30T20:10:00.000-08:00

With recent headlines highlighting our transportation woes, we typically think of highways, bridges, and high speed rail when we speak of "infrastructure", but as I have tried to highlight in other blog posts, while the major national headlines focus on those big ticket items what is really needed is money to maintain your city streets; yes those streets right outside your widow, the residential street.

The East Bay city of Orinda has gone back to the drawing board after two recent attempts to finance a much needed road repair program. The city announced that they will be conducting a citywide survey to see if residents will support measures to fund a road maintenance program.

In a recent Contra Costa Times article ("Orinda my poll residents on how to finance road repairs") it was mentioned that "since 2000, Orinda has spent $15.5 million repaving arterial and collector streets. However, the city's residential roads remain rough. In 2006 and 2007 (Voter Information Pamphlet), bond measures of nearly $60 million fell short of voter approval. Orinda annually allocates an average of about 10 percent, or $1 million, of its $10 million operating budget to road and storm drain repairs."

In the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Report ("The Pothole Report - Can the Bay Area Have better Roads?"), Orinda's 193 miles of roadway rank in the lowest category with a PCI (Pavement Condition Index) of 49 in 2010. At over $1 million per year that works out to over $5,000 per mile which is extremely low for road repair work. Depending on whether the city wants to maintain or improve conditions it typically takes from $8,000 to $17,000 per lane mile. With the increasing backlog the city's Citizens Infrastructure Committee has now estimated it will take as much as $95 million to keep the city's roads and pipes up to standard. If you amortize this over 10 years ($95million / 10 years) this just about equals the current city budget of $10 million; just for the city's roads!

So we can now add Orinda to the growing list of cities that are caught in that though spot of paying for road maintenance now or major road overhauls later. Stay tuned.

Detroit needs a new app - hooking our youth back on cars

2011-11-30T19:18:00.000-08:00

By dmjarvey

Monday, Streetsblog writer Anne Lutz Fernandez published a post titled "Getting Young People Back Into Cars is Auto Industry Job #1". During these tough economic times when California college students are protesting large tuition increases, its easy to see why owning a car is far from financially realistic. But Lutz also highlights one other factor. The utility of the automobile is being challenged by the smartphone.

Every morning, rain or shine, outside of my local coffee shop sits a group of aging car buffs, most of whom are retired who swoon when any classic car rolls by. Classic in this case refers to any car that was completely made of chrome and steel and built before smog control devices were dreamed up by some Sacramento legislator. Overhearing their conversations, I listen as they tell stories of their first cars; how they fixed them up, modified them and raced them. These cars provided them with identity, access to jobs, to fun with their friends, and to dates. The cars connected them to their world.

But as the author mentions young people now connect through the Internet, and the Internet is no longer a modem, a dial-up, sit down and wait affair. The Internet; their Internet is seamless, instantaneous, and ubiquitous. It is the Internet that gives young Americans their connectivity, not cars. Young people (and baby boomers) also prefer to live in urban areas forgoing the feeling of isolation found in the suburbs ("The Death of the Fringe Suburb" New York Times 11-25-2011). This change of status from car to phone has contributed to the decline in teen driving rates.

So Detroit, and in speaking of Detroit I mean the auto industry in general, has figured out that it is not high gas prices, not environmentalists, not transit and high speed rail that has dented sales of cars to young Americans, but the smartphone. Yes, it is the smartphone, or the iPhone that is changing the way this demographic sees freedom and connectivity, and Detroit is waking up and taking notice.

Yesterday morning the headline in my San Jose Mercury News business and technology section (yes I still read a newspaper, mainly for ceremonial reasons) was all the evidence I needed. The headline read "Toyota looks ahead to a 'smartphone on four wheels'". In the article Toyota President Akio Toyoda, speaking at the Tokyo Motor Show introduced a concept car called the Fun-vii that "works like a personal computer and allows drivers to connect with others with a tap of a touch-panel door." Now I not really sure what he meant by the personal computer comment, I mean no one under 25 years of age even will admit to using a "personal computer", but I get the idea. If you can't sell your car as a car, well sell it has a smart phone.

The auto industry has, somewhat late, begun to realize the need to lure these young shoppers back to the showrooms. And this is where they have an advantage. Although somewhat slow to respond to the trend, industry will always respond to change faster than government and governmental agencies. Even with the renaissance of the central city, young residents will require better transportation options; better bus systems, bike networks without gaps, bus rapid transit, connectivity to the airport, and cities that recognize pedestrians on par with automobiles. Without real attention given to alternative transportation modes we may see young people abandoning their car-free and car-lite lifestyles in favor car-centric neighborhoods.

Time will tell.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

2011-11-30T10:53:00.001-08:00

Great autumn commute this morning,

The Good. Yellow leaves on Curtner.
.

The Bad. Black Holes on South First.

The Ugly. The official city tree, sycamores in fall on Meridian.

Guadalupe River bike trail improvements almost complete

2011-11-29T22:26:00.001-08:00

For the last year contractors have been working on Reach 6 of the Guadalupe River Trail, the section just south of the 280 freeway. Here is a photo I took this afternoon where the trail is visible. San Jose City Parks officials have announced that trail is scheduled to open in December.

November 29,2011
Palm and Grant St. Looking Southwest
towards Guadalupe River

View Larger Map

Rail Highlights - Amtrak California's Capital Corridor

2011-11-29T15:41:00.000-08:00

Capitol Corridor

The mothballed fleet in
San Pablo Bay. Viewed from
an early morning Capital Corridor train.

Reader Note: Yesterday, I posted that Amtrak California announced that it had installed a new wi-fi system on all its California trains. For more details (Amtrak California announces new on-board wi-fi service).

Although most Silicon Valley Train riders are familiar with Caltrain or the ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) train, another key line terminating in San Jose (Diridon) is Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor Train. With 14 daily (outbound an inbound) trains each day from San Jose (32 in Oakland) the line travels north to Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley.

I have taken this train many times before, but on the day before Thanksgiving I was able to experience the system at its capacity; yes the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest of the year.

As I have mentioned in a previous post one of the many great things about this line and all other Amtrak and Amtrak California lines is the ability to reserve train tickets through their convenient smartphone app (New Smartphone App). The app allows you to book you train in about a minute. Once you have reserved you ticket just insert you payment card into the in-station kiosks, select your train and the tickets will be printed immediately. You will need to show the conductor a government-issued photo ID card however. This is only required on Amtrak (federally funded system) trains. Capitol Corridor is slightly different than Caltrain in that you do not have to have a ticket to board the train. A conductor has the ability to sell you a ticket on the train with a small service fee. Conductors now carry automated ticket readers and printers on a handy scanning computer attached to their belts.

For those of you who are used to using the Caltrain system the first thing you will notice is the longer train used by Amtrak necessitating the use of track number 1 at Diridon Station (which is also long enough for the twice daily Coast Starlight). In comparison with Caltrain the seats on the Capital Corridor are more comfortable, the trains are quieter, and the ride is smoother. There are two dining cars on each train with a menu of reasonably priced snacks and beverages. Wi-Fi is now available on all Capitol Corridor trains.

Boarding and Train Facts
All seating is unreserved on a first come, first served basis. The seating on the first floor is for disabled passengers or those that find it physically difficult to use the stairs to the second floor. Seating is not guaranteed with the ticket, but it is highly unlikely that you will not have a seat unless you are riding on the busiest day of the year; the day before Thanksgiving.

The seating is ample and comfortable

Big, comfortable seats
Fold-down trays
Individual reading lamps
Ample legroom

Some seats have a four-person meeting table (see photo above)

There are luggage racks on the first and second levels. Passengers are limited to two pieces of carry-on baggage. Each bag must weigh less than 50 lbs. and be tagged with your name and address.

Capitol Corridor.
1st level bike parking

There is plenty of bike parking with two different types of racks. One type of rack (see picture) can be used as a luggage rack or configured to carry bikes as well.

Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA)
You will notice the the Capitol Corridor is sometimes referred to as Amtrak California or the Capital Corridor Joint Powers Authority. The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) is a partnership among the six local transit agencies in the eight county service area which shares the administration and management of the Capitol Corridor. The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) provides day-to-day management support to the CCJPA.

Through Caltrans, the State of California provides capital grants and support for station and track improvements, signaling, locomotives and passenger rail cars, connecting Amtrak Thruway bus service, and operating assistance for the Pacific Surfliner® and San Joaquin® routes.

These two California train routes and numerous Thruway bus routes, collectively referred to as Amtrak California, are funded and managed by Caltrans, but operated by Amtrak in addition to Amtrak's own interstate trains - the Coast Starlight®, California Zephyr®, Southwest Chief®, and Sunset Limited®. The State of California also provides funding for the Capitol Corridor® which is managed by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority in cooperation with Caltrans and Amtrak.

Capital Corridor Facts
170 miles of track
32 weekly trains
Fiscal Year End: 9/30/2011 1.7 million passengers.
$70 million budget
16 stations (6 staffed; San Jose Diridon, Oakland, Emeryville, Martinez, Davis, Sacramento)
Transfer program with: AC Transit, VTA, and other Bay Area Transit Districts.

Cost per mile: The 127 mile trip to Sacramento costs $37 or about $.29 per mile. Caltrain typically runs about $.15 per mile. One could agree that the ride comfort mentioned above makes up for the price (although not the frequency of trains into San Jose).

Key Connections

On-board Poster promoting
free connecting transger passes.

While on board the train, ask the conductor for Transit Transfer (or two, if you need to make a round trip). The validated transfer will be punched for the nextday. Use one transfer to travel to your destination, stay the night, if needed, and use the second transfer the next ay. Or, use them both on the same day.

Connections to local transit with Amtrak Capitol Corridor Transit Transfer Ticket (ask Amtrak conductor for up to two free transfers). Good on the transit systems listed below/ Passengers can ask for up to two transfers for their round-trip transportation to/from the train. Transfer is good through the following day.

You can also buy a BART 20% discount ticket ($10 value ticket for only $8), available in the Cafe car.

San Jose Diridon
San Jose Sharks
Diridon Transit Center (VTA)
ACE (Altamont Commuter Express)
MST to Monterey/Salinas
17 to Santa Cruz
VTA 22 San Jose to Palo Alto along the El Camino Real

Emeryville
Connecting Thru Bus to San Francisco

Oakland - Jack London Square
AC Transit
Jack London Square
Downtown Oakland

Oakland - Coliseum/Airport
AirBART - Airport Shuttle

Martinez
Thru bus to Vallejo, Napa, Petaluma, Santa Rosa
Six Flags Theme Park
John Muir House

Suisun-Fairfield
Rio Vista Delta Breeze
Suisun-Fairfield Transit System

Davis
UC Davis
Yolobus

Sacramento

Transit Connections with e-tran (Elk Grove Transit) and Sacramento Regional Transit.
Bus Connections to Chico (North), Placerville (South), and South Lake Tahoe (South)

The following is the Capitol Corridors policy on Bicycles.

Bikes on Board
Most connecting buses can accommodate bicycles. Bicycles must be stored underneath the bus in the luggage compartment, if space is available. Amtrak and the CCJPA assume no responsibility for your bike. Passengers must load and unload their own bikes.

Bikes on Buses

Bicycles are welcome aboard the designated lower levels of Capitol Corridor trains. Most Capitol Corridor coach cars have bicycle racks on the lower level of the car; spaces are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Please bring a bungee cord with you to secure your bike; and if the bike racks are full, please follow the train conductor’s instructions on where to place and secure your bicycle. For tips on how to secure your bike visit capitolcorridor.org.

Social Connections

Capitol Corridor Website
Amtrak Apple Smartphone App
Facebook

Twitter

Blog - "Get On Board"

Introductory video "Get On Board"

Yelp

Amtrak California announces new on-board wi-fi service

2011-11-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Amtrak California which operates three train lines within the state announced today that they will be offering a free wi-fi service to all riders. The train lines include the Capital Corridor, the San Jaoquin, and the Pacific Surfiner. Just in time for Cyber Monday, the online retail version of Black Friday, todays wi-fi introduction has been one of the most requested services.

Amtrak is scheduled to announce the Wi-Fi service at events this morning. The national passenger railroad already has the service on its popular Acela trains and some other East Coast routes as well as on the Cascades line in Washington and Oregon. It's also available to sleeping-car passengers on the Coast Starlight.

During the first week of the service, ambassadors will ride the Capitol Corridor trains to help passengers navigate the new Wi-Fi network, which will have a landing page, or portal, and will require users to agree to terms of service.

Coast Starlight pulls into
Sacramento Station in the
early morning hours.

The Capitol Corridor is paying for the system with $3.75 million left over from a signal project in Emeryville that came in under budget. The rail service has been working, on and off, for about nine years to offer Wi-Fi, and has tested different technologies and approaches, trying to find one that worked consistently and did not interfere with Union Pacific Railroad communications.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/28/BAHQ1M3FMA.DTL#ixzz1f1NysvIk

Some information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/

359 State St. - New Los Altos bike store now open

2011-11-22T09:09:00.001-08:00

It seems as though it is becoming a monthly event in the valley nowadays; a new bike store opens in some local traditional business district in the process of being remade as a hipper, friendlier version of the mega-malls. Whereas the last three San Jose based mega-malls have all included the standard Panera and Panda food vendors, smaller historically centered business districts are changing their look with outdoor seating, farmers markets, and (as I mentioned in a post about downtown Campbell) bike shops.

359 State St. which just happens to be on 389 State St. in the heart of downtown Los Altos, right next to Peet's coffee, a local landmark for cyclists who use Foothill expressway as their own local highway.

Jeff in front of Palo Alto Bicycles

359 State Street is the latest creation of Jeff Selzer, who many bicycle enthusiasts know around the valley. Jeff is all things bicycle. Bicycle store manager, owner, bike parking fixture manufacturer and tireless bicycle advocate from local Palo Alto issues all the way to the National Bike Summit held in Washington D.C. every year.

Jeff is the General Manger of Palo Alto Bicycles located right across El Camino Real from Stanford University. He also started Bike Arc with a partner to provide a unique type of parking solutions in cities. I first met Jeff with his work at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition where he serves as a board member as one of two bicycle retailers.

April Economides and Andrew Boone
connect before hearing her presentation
on cycling in Long Beach.

In the world of bicycle advocacy and retailing Jeff brings a fresh face to the industry. With a tall and lean demeanour, he carries himself like a former road racer. The absence of any silver tinged facial hair and bright green riding ensembles however sets him apart from other advocates. In fact the ever present smile and upbeat attitude clashes with the stereotypical vision of a bike advocate. As we started the interview, it was readily apparent that he sees the ever changing cycling industry from a different perspective.

Store owner Jeff Selzer
explaining the Bike Arc
rack system to a customer

While speaking amongst a small group of local activists, Suzanne Ambiel a Los Altos resident asked, "Where's the shop?" Jeff replied enthusiastically, "Don't have one". Now I knew this was going to get interesting; a bike shop without a shop.

Jeff went on to state that the "store" was to entice local residents who wouldn't normally ride but wanted to use a bike for those local errands within a two mile radius from the house. With his many years in the bike business he noticed that most potential customers feel intimidated when talking with shop technicians or (typically) guys in shop shirts and aprons. I guess that's why car dealers always put their repair facilities at the back of the property. Jeff's goal is to make the traditional bike "shop" look more like a bike "store". His goal is to highlight three main products; the beautiful bikes themselves, fashionable as well as quality clothing, and the graceful racks that he sells under the name Bike Arc.

Clothes by Ibex and Rapha

Eventually he may consider moving on to even more utilitarian bikes such as bakfiets and Xtracycles (bakfiets vs. Xtracycle), but for now traditional bikes fitted with baskets and racks will suffice. With the bright, light, and light interior its as if he took a page out of Paco Underhill's "What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly", or took a couple of pages out of the now ubiquitous Apple store's playbook. The store is open and airy without a hint of bike grease or chain solvent.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the community welcomes Jeff's new store. Stay tuned.

A modular Bike Arc rack

View Larger Map

Caltrain Seeks Volunteers for Bicycle Advisory Committee

2011-11-22T01:37:00.001-08:00

Caltrain is seeking four volunteer representatives for the nine-member Bicycle Advisory Committee.

The positions to be filled are: A public agency staff member representing the City and County of San Francisco; a public agency staff member representing San Mateo County; a representative of a San Mateo County bike advocacy organization; and a representative of the Santa Clara County general public.

The nine-member committee serves as the primary venue for the interests and perspectives of Caltrain bicyclists.

The BAC meets every other month at 6:45 p.m. in San Carlos, just one block from the San Carlos Caltrain Station. All meetings are open to the public.

Applications are due Monday, Nov. 21. Members will be selected by the Staff Coordinating Council of the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. The council is made up of representatives of the three partner agencies – the San Mateo County Transit District, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Interested persons can download an application by clicking here or call 650.508.6223.

USDOT awards $21 million to Caltrans for SoCal Rail

2011-11-22T01:25:00.001-08:00

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will receive $21 million for three projects to improve the Pacific Surfliner Corridor, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced last week.

“The projects will help relieve congestion, create jobs and help ensure the world’s eighth-largest economy continues to grow,” LaHood said in a press release.

The projects and dollar amounts include:

• $10 million for design, environmental and engineering work toward a plan to connect two sections of double track, resulting in a 10.3-mile stretch of double track. The work is part of the long-range plan to double-track the San Diego segment of the corridor to alleviate train delays and remove a capacity constraint to future intercity passenger-rail service on the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Corridor, USDOT officials said.

• $7 million for preliminary engineering and environmental work for construction of a 1.1-mile section of second main track, replacement of a timber trestle railway bridge and signal improvements. The project is designed to alleviate train delays and improve on-time performance for intercity, commuter and freight trains.

• $4 million for preliminary engineering and environmental work for the construction for second main track and replacement of an aging railway bridge over the San Luis Rey River. The project will help alleviate train delays, USDOT officials said.

BART's Fleet of the Future will employ American know-how

2011-11-22T01:11:00.001-08:00

First transit system in the nation to adopt a "Buy America" policy.

BART’s new Buy America Bid Preference policy gives preferences to rail car manufacturers who create jobs in the U.S.A., a first-in-the nation policy unanimously adopted by the Board of Directors Thursday. Board members made the move after saying that as they look to replace BART’s oldest-in-the-nation train cars with the Fleet of the Future, they’ve heard from both their constituents and state and federal officials that putting Americans back to work should be a strong consideration.

“The Buy America policy mirrors the economic goals of federal lawmakers,” BART Board President Bob Franklin said. “Adopting this policy on a regional level demonstrates BART’s leadership in the rail industry. It will also transfer rail car technology to the U.S.”

The Buy America Bid Preference policy scores bids for federally funded procurements by using a formula that considers the domestic content level of a product. It goes into effect on January 1, 2012. To view details on the Buy America program, visit www.bart.gov/board and click on the "Board Agenda and Minutes" link. Choose the agenda for Nov. 17, 2011, and go to the PDF document attached at the bottom of the agenda titled "Buy America Board Presentation."

BART’s Fleet of the Future train car replacement project is a $3-billion capital investment. The preliminary timeline is to award a contract to a manufacturer in the coming months. For more information on the Fleet of the Future, see www.bart.gov/cars.

In another job-related vote, the Board adopted a resolution in support of requiring Project Stabilization Policies aimed to create local jobs and facilitate local economic growth as BART works to build Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) at or near BART stations. This resolution supports a partnership with local unions to achieve a mutually-agreed goal of workers on all TODs construction projects who are residents of counties BART serves.

Another Bay Area transportation agency to push for more pothole funding

2011-11-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

In what has become a domino effect around the San Francisco Bay area, another transportation agency has decided to put a ballot measure to the voters to help fix crumbling roads along with a package of transit improvements, pedestrian, and cycling projects, and in this case a $400 million contribution to bring BART to Livermore. The proposed measure plans to double the current county sales tax portion dedicated to transportation from .5% to 1%, making it the second county in the state, after Los Angeles to seek a 1% solution.

Like other local agencies, the concern is that a failure to act will create an ever escalating backlog of projects while road deterioration accelerates with each passing year. The measure is expected to raise over $7.7 billion in new

There's no more change to be found in the sofa - Fixing San Jose's Roads

2011-11-18T10:43:00.000-08:00

In a recent article in our local community newspaper ("Potholes, potholes everywhere and not a financial fix any time in the near future - Chances of passing parcel tax or bond measure seem unlikely") the reporter summarized a recent presentation given by Hans Larsen, Director of the City of San Jose's Department of Transportation to the regular Tuesday meeting of the city council. His presentation repeated an earlier presentation I heard him give just three weeks earlier putting a yearly price tag on maintaining the city's roadways. I summarized many of his comments in a October 28, 2011 post titled "San Jose''s DOT Director discusses the state of the city's roadways and how to repair them".

The article highlighted several responses from local residents commenting on the proposed ways to raise funds to support a $100 million a year maintenance budget. All but one respondent was opposed to spending money to support the roads. Several had stated they believed the money is there and that we should look a little closer at departmental funds. A few would like to initiate a formal look at the department's finances. As the article states "he cautions that before anything else is done, the city council and auditor should look into how DOT money is being spent."

The comments in the article share a common thread, a belief, a wish that there is money there, we just need to look harder. Somewhere there is a sofa with just the enough road repair change, just waiting to be scooped up between the sofa cushions. And somehow it seems as though these residents feel that this is only a San Jose problem; if we could just get our house in order. I doubt most of the residents surveyed for the article or most any San Jose residents realize that this is not just a San Jose problem, and certainly not just a California problem, but a growing national problem as well. Critical lack of funding in our surface transportation infrastructure is a problem, but the biggest problem may be our collective denial that a structural problem exists.

Many of you who read this blog know that I have featured James H. Kunstler and Charles Marohn of StrongTowns.org. Mr. Marohn goes on to state that the unbridled growth in suburban development at the expense of our central cities was one big development Ponzi scheme, saddling us with unbearable infrastructure maintenance costs 30 to 40 years into the future. [Podcast: The Growth Ponzi Scheme]

During San Jose's huge post war growth spurt [San Jose Population - read-only Excel file] city development moved away from an efficient grid system to a street system of cul-du-sacs, collector roads, and homes that were built far from stores, schools, and jobs. Not only did this lead to a requirement of one car for just about every adult driver but families were driving more each year just to meet basic family needs, even to make those short trips to the store just to pick up a gallon of milk. Also a cul-du-sac style roadway systems is costly to maintain than the traditional grid system (not just for roads but sewers, tree trimming, trash pick-up etc.

Flicker:TaxiDriver

But this is not just a San Jose problem. In a recent post ("The looming showdown in surface transportation funding"), I mentioned the failure of our gasoline excise tax program to adequately fund construction and maintenance of the automobile infrastructure. The tax has never been truly effective because, on "Day One" the tax has never been adequate enough and the amount collected is reduced with each passing year due to inflation, the increasing gas mileage of American automobiles, and the recent trend of driving less during these tough economic times.

Recently the city of Napa has passed a sales tax to cover road repair as well as reallocate construction funds for road maintenance, a rather unusual request to the MTC. The city of San Francisco just passed Measure B giving that city ability to incur $248 million of bonded debt. Also other major California cities such as Los Angles and San Diego have recently garnered media attention on the deteriorating state of local roads.

So we need to move away from past myths about our local streets, local transportation funding, and the view that the motorist is the only user of our streets. Historically cities built and maintained our streets. But with the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, cities and counties which have historically used property taxes to fund roadways were now in a dilemma. With this long lasting recession impacting sales tax revenue and city budgets (along with pensions and other HR costs), less and less of the cities general fund is being used for street repair. In recent years money has also come in the form of grants, sales tax revenue from recently passed measures, vehicle license fees (VLF also which were voted in with a 2/3 vote), along with other creative means. But in Hans Larsen's recently released numbers this may only solve 15% of the problem. Very little money dedicated to street maintenance comes from user fees or gas taxes.

Typically when we speak of "mode share" we highlight whether the users are single occupancy autos, transit user, pedestrians, or cyclists, but these percentages only take into consideration commute options. Since other trips (errands, church, school, coffee shop, farmers market) typically are taken by transit, cycling or walking these numbers tend to overestimate automobiles usage. However up until now, the overwhelming amount of road funds went to add vehicle capacity and move traffic faster. Very little money was spent to make our cities streets safer, more convenient, and more accessible to pedestrians, transit users, and cyclists.

All of the local residents interviewed for the article are exclusively motorists who feel that there is money in the system somewhere; we just need to look for it. These city residents are no different from other motorists in that they are in a state of denial concerning local streets. The perception is that in the future all local roadways will continue to be in good to fair condition and it will not cost us much more than it does now, so why burden their budgets with the additional costs of gas taxes, sales taxes, property taxes or any other type of tax.

In fact, San Jose's inability to find financial support to maintain roads (also known as "kicking the can down the road") has been going on for at least eight years. In a March 26, 2004 memo to the Building Better Transportation Committee then DOT director James Helmer stated that although 70 was the citywide Pavement Maintenance Index (PMI) at that time (San Jose's PMI is currently at 63) he needed over $30 million each year but only had $3.2 million from the general fund. His concern at that time was that he was going to have to rely on capital funding to support the city's maintenance program (similar to Napa's dilemma; use funds dedicated to construct for maintenance).

So just who's job is it to wake the city up from its long dream of beautiful but underfunded streets. Hans Larsen has only been in his current position for about six months but it looks like this responsibility has fallen upon his shoulders. He has a big job ahead of him, but one that is sorely needed nonetheless.

Maybe in future presentations he can wheel around that big old sofa and just show everyone that there is no change in that sofa.

Links to recent "pothole" related stories around the state (and other references):

The Pothole Report: Can the Bay Area Have Better Roads - Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Roads Officially Worse Under Sanders, Report Says - Voice of San Diego
San Jose ponders where to get money to fix pothole-ridden streets - Mercury News
Pitfalls of Mayor Antonio Villaragosa's pothole project - Los Angles Times
Hans Larsen Presentation
Measure B (Santa Clara 11-11)
Measure B (Santa Clara 3-02)
California Proposition 42

November 16, Upcoming cycling events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

2011-11-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Thanks to Cheraylyn Willyard
for this month's hometown artwork.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011
San Jose Bike Party

Friday, November 18, 2011 8:00
This Month's Theme:
Hometown Superhero.
Location to be Announced 24 hours before the ride.

Do you remember when you were a kid riding your bike and pretending you were a superhero flying through the skies? Well thats exactly what November's theme is supposed to remind you of. Dress up and make your own costume so you can be your own home made superhero.

Unless someone makes a superhero that can actually change the weather it's time to watch the skies again and be prepared. We are in the season where rain is a possibility but we could get lucky.

Santa Cruz Bike Party - Movember
Saturday, November 19, 2011
6:30 - 9:30 PM

Tentatively meet at the Clock Tower, 101 Water St. at N. Pacific/Mission/Front/Knight Streets (map)

Movember (a portmanteau of the slang word "mo" for moustache and "November") is an annual, month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November. The event was conceived in 1999 by a group of Australian men from Melbourne. It is also known as "Novembeard". Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has run Movember events to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues, such as prostate cancer ...and depression.

Shaping San Francisco Bicycle History Tour: Dissent *Saturday, November 19th
12pm-4pm | Meet at Counterpulse, 1310 Mission at 9th
Covering everything from literary dissenters to urban riots and protests, this tour examines sites of conflict and unrest, the social movements and upheavals, that have shaped San Francisco since its origins. Sliding scale $15-50, benefiting Shaping San Francisco. For more info call 415.608.9035.

Climb to Saratoga Gap (Hwy 9 @ Skyline) then Chaperone a hike of 6th graders before biking home
Hosted by Nick
Saturday, November 19 · 7:00am - 3:00pm
See Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=258791560837803

Paradise Loop (35mi hilly)
Hosted by Yoshi N.
Saturday, November 26 · 1:00pm - 5:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=189855477751122

San Francisco Bike Party
Friday December 2, 2011
Check Website for Details.
http://sfbikeparty.wordpress.com/
Modern Ohlone ride
Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Alviso, Moffet Areas
20 miles
Saturday, December 3, TBA

The "no turn" ride (33mi flat)
Hosted by Yoshi
Saturday, December 10 · 3:00pm - 6:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=291713184190924

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, December 11, 2011 7:30 PM
http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/

The STEEPEST climb in the south bay (Beware - serious masochists only)
Saturday, December 17 · 1:00pm - 5:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=243355492379460

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

Blast from the Past - Thinking of the Current Transportation System as a Health and Safety Issue

2011-11-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

This was originally posted on my sister blog - One Less Car in the Silcon Valley. I am reposting here due to the recent increase in pedestrian and cyclists casualties. I hope to have more updates and comments later. Notice the links to fatal Silicon Valley accidents at the bottom of the post. I used to geo-track these statistics to get a sense the most dangerous Silicon Valley roadways.

All I know is that first you've got to get mad.

You've got to say,
"I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!"

Three vehicular events in the Silicon Valley area this weekend highlight the fact that we are all subject to property damage, trauma, critical injury and even death from vehicles. With this weekends death of a solo driver in Los Altos, a hit and run pedestrian accident in downtown San Jose, and a hit and run accident involving two cyclists, we need to stop and seriously consider the pain and suffering these events cause.

I am acquainted with Ashley (Ashleigh), through work and we share several mutual friends. Ashley was riding with her boyfriend this weekend when she was struck by a car that drove into the bike lane. As I have written before, death and injury has visited family members, a favored author (David Hallberstam's tragic death near the Dumbarton Bridge), three high school friends, a college friend, and bike riding buddies. Many years ago, while riding my bike, I witnessed a accident victim's final seconds as the blood from his head flowed onto the asphalt, on that early spring morning. I was stunned and helpless. Unable to move the truck that had just slammed his head to the ground and was now pinning his body to the roadway, all I remember was the color of his face, and how it seemed to change color the more his blood drained from his motionless head.

Several years after witnessing speeding and erratic behavior by a driver on a southbound San Diego Freeway, I came upon the prostrate body of the driver in the middle lane; motionless as we drove by, suddenly making the connection that the driver had met his end in his own horrific way.

With almost two years of a car free lifestyle under my belt, people often ask me; "isn't bike riding dangerous? I'm to afraid to ride my bike. I think I'll just go to a spin class instead." First, bikes can be dangerous, but not many people fail to consider the large number of car accidents every year; whether classified as solo vehicular accidents, alcohol related accidents, accidents due to youth and inexperience, or just sheer and utter stupidity. We seem to just accept, "as if that's the way it's supposed to be.

"We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone."

Ask anyone who rides or walks and they will tell you horror stories of the streets. Freeing yourself from the cocoon of your car you notice more. In the two years since my own accident, I have witnessed four accidents involving a car running a red light ( myself a victem as well). Of those four, I was the first responder on three of them. One involved a person trying to flee the scene. Six victims required medical attention.

In the two years since giving up my car in favor of a lifestyle involving cycling, walking and public transportation as a means of mobility, I have kept tract of most of the accidents involving cars, whether solo, with other cars, with bicycles, or pedestrians. Also motorcycle accidents; which seem almost to be predictable in rider age and accident location are document.

We strikes me and also troubles me the most however is the continued increase in hit and run accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists. I have read somewhere that it may approach 50%. That would be one out of two accidents involve a vehicle leaving the scene; an absolute disgrace on any measure of moral, ethic, or civic responsibility.

Anyway here are three Google Maps so far that I have put together.
(Blue - Vehicle, Red - Pedestrian, Yellow - Motorcycle, Green - Cyclists) Dot in the marker represents a fatality.

2007

2008

2009

James Howard Kunstler

2011-11-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

James H. Kunstler

The other evening my local city council member held one of his regularly scheduled movie nights, this evening featuring the movie "Radiant City", which IMDB.com tersely describes as "An examination of the nature of modern suburbia". Featured in the movie was the prolific author and chief American critic of post World War II city planning and architecture, James Howard Kunstler.

After the movie the audience was able to ask questions about the themes of the movie; sprawl, placemaking, and community. This was a very timely event given that the city just adopted their 2040 General Plan after many committee meetings, workshops, and public outreach. Along with my council member the cities Planning Director, Assistant Planning Director and Director of Economic Development were on hand to answer any of the audiences questions.

What stood out most vividly was the the cities planning director had not even heard of the author James Howard Kunstler. Kunstler is the author of two highly acclaimed books, "The Geography of Nowhere" and "Home from Nowhere". He has spoken at the annual TED.org meeting (see video below), a homegrown Silicon Valley geek fest of which San Jose is the capitol. Actually I seem to recall during the 2040 General Plan process writings by Kunstler were even given to the participants to read as additional background material. In addition to his books he also keeps a website where one of his most popular posts are "The Eyesore of the Month", where he chronicles urban design failures. (Check out November's eyesore; a blast on a street crossing in Reading, Pennsylvania.)

Any urban planning student today has read, studied, reread, and dog-eared the pages of Jane Jacob's "The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Kunstler's "The Geography of Nowhere", or William H. Whyte's "City: Rediscovering the Center". Looks like we have some educating to do.

This is just one aspect of a bifurcation of dreams, visions, thoughts, use of technology, transportation choices, and the definition, if any of that often used term of - placemaking. It seems as though gap between these ideas and experiences (James Kunstler is just one of many) that I have experienced in working with both older and younger citizens just keeps getting bigger. I plan to write on this more in the future since it is a trend that I see becoming more prevalent every day.

Here in the capitol of the Silicon Valley, in an advisory committee meeting last month we were trying to find ways to get the city's bike plan in the hand of citizens. One not so young member interjected, "How about advertising in the phone book", on which I replied, "What's a phonebook?"

Any comments?

November 9, Upcoming cycling events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

2011-11-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Wednesday,November 9, 2011

Modern Ohlone Test Ride

Thursday, November 10 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=233397033384914

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, November 11, 2011 7:30 PM

This month’s ride will start at MacArthur BART (7:30 gathering, 8pm departure). and head north to take us on a leisurely tour through Berkeley and Oakland. The first party stop will be at Street Level Cycles, a non-profit bike shop offering free space, tools and information on repairing and maintaining bicycles. Plus, they sell parts and accessories like a traditional bike shop to help fund their work.
Get ready to see double in November, as the next East Bay Bike Party is a TWINS RIDE!!
http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/

San Francisco Bike Expo
@ the Cow Palace
Saturday, November 12 at 10:00am - November 13 at 5:00pm
http://sfbikeexpo.com/

Tall Can Tuesdays
November 15, 2011
Meet in front of the Starbucks at 8:00 PM

San Jose Bike Party
Friday, November 18, 2011 8:00
This Month's Theme:
Hometown Superhero.
Location to be Announced 24 hours before the ride.

Do you remember when you were a kid riding your bike and pretending you were a superhero flying through the skies? Well thats exactly what November's theme is supposed to remind you of. Dress up and make your own costume so you can be your own home made superhero.

Unless someone makes a superhero that can actually change the weather it's time to watch the skies again and be prepared. We are in the season where rain is a possibility but we could get lucky.

Modern Ohlone ride
Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Alviso, Moffet Areas
20 miles
Saturday, December 3, TBA

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

Napa County stakeholders forge ahead with plan for succesful road repair measure

2011-11-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

A recent article in the Napa Valley Register ("Panel agrees on terms of road tax") highlights the third San Francisco Bay Area county that has or plans to put a measure on the ballot that help fund each counties deteriorating roadways. As highlighted in a previous post, San Francisco already has a measure on the books for this weeks election and San Jose has stated that they are in favor of holding an election as well (San Jose's DOT Director discusses the state of the city's roadways and how to repair them).

All three measures or proposed measures differ though in how they go about raising sorely needed road funds. San Jose would like to increase parcel taxes to fund their severely underfunded system. San Francisco would like to be allowed to sell bonds that would be retired through the general fund. Napa County would like to extend an existing sales tax.

In a recent Metropolitan Transportation Commision Report (The Pothole Report: Can the Bay Area Have Better Roads), Napa County roads over the last several years had some of the lowest PMI's (Pavement Condition Index) within the nine Bay Area Counties. In fact, recently the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency voted to allocate nearly $4 million in state Transportation Improvement Program funds to the maintenence of local streets. Althougn not unprecedented the request for these funds, which are earmarked for construction and not maintenence could cost the county in the long run. The MTC commision will have to approve the request.

Expect to see more news on this topic around the Bay Area in the next year. Stay tuned.

NCTPA tries new avenue to patch up roads

Funding Opportunities for Roadway Rehabilitation and Maintenence

November 2, Upcoming cycling events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

2011-11-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Wednesday,November 2, 2011

San Francisco Bike Party

Friday, November 4, 2011 7:30 PM

Location to be announced

http://sfbikeparty.wordpress.com/

Birds and Volunteers
Don't Forget
SJBP "Homemade Superhero" Test Ride #2
Saturday, November 5 · 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Somewhere Near El Camino and Scott
check Facebook page.

Bike Soiree (Campbell, Sal's Pizza and a ride on the Los Gatos Creek Trail)
Saturday, November 5 · 6:30pm - 10:30pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=279538922068843

Rolling Relics Livermore Ride
Sunday, November 6 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128849827220930

Its the small (4 floors) building.

Tall Can Tuesdays
November 8, 2011
Meet in front of the Starbucks at 8:00 PM

San Jose Bike Party Volunteer Mixer
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
1922 The Alameda, San Jose near Hedding Room 105

Build community by learning & chatting with other SJBP volunteers!
Come out to our monthly volunteer meeting!
This is the place to meet & chat with other amazing Bike Party volunteers, learn how to be a better volunteer and better cyclist in general, and help play with ideas to make Bike Party better!

Bring a snack to share! The first 20 minutes (6:45 - 7:05) are a time for socializing and sharing snacks!
Bring a lock - bike parking is located in the back lot. Its also easier to enter off the back lot.

Volunteers to help clean up for a few minutes afterward are appreciated - our hosts are extremely generous in donating this time in their space.

Birds and Volunteers
Don't Forget
SJBP "Homemade Superhero" Test Ride #3
Wednesday, November 9 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
check Facebook page.

Location: TBD (Somewhere near Lawrence Expy & Monroe)

Modern Ohlone Test Ride
Thursday, November 10 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=233397033384914

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, November 11, 2011 7:30 PM
Location to be Announced
http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/

San Francisco Bike Expo @ the Cow Palace
Saturday, November 12 at 10:00am - November 13 at 5:00pm
http://sfbikeexpo.com/

Tall Can Tuesdays
November 15, 2011
Meet in front of the Starbucks at 8:00 PM

San Jose Bike Party
Friday, November 18, 2011 8:00
Location to be Announced

Modern Ohlone ride
Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Alviso, Moffet Areas
20 miles
Saturday, December 3, TBA

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

The looming showdown in surface transportation funding

2011-10-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Or "How I learned to stop worrying and love my car.

Although presidential candidates in the last election tried to ease the pain of the gas tax by temporarily suspending it (the federal excise tax that is), the problem is that desperately needed funds derived from a gas tax have less of an effect with each passing year. The last time the state of California raised the state excise tax was 21 years ago. Although the total miles driven by California's has begun to peak the addition of alternatively powered and fueled vehicles (hybrids and electric) on the roadways means that gas tax collection is going done far faster than our use of the roadways.

In a recent Los Angles Times opinion column "It's time to raise California's Gas Tax" (see links below), the author highlights comments by the current state treasurer and governor.

"California's infrastructure was designed for 25 million people, but we're fast approaching a population of 40 million.We've got a lot of needs, but we're never going to be able to finance them with the General Fund," State Treasurer Bill Lockyer says. "It's too big a price tag."

"I surely didn't expect California to grow like it did," Jerry Brown told me last year as he was starting to run for governor again. "We had tremendous growth. And when you have growth, you've got to build: energy, water, roads, transit, schools, jails."

But the Democratic candidate added a caveat: "We need a design change. We can't just keep paving over. We've paved over the San Fernando Valley. We've got to use the land better. We've got to use our energy better — the natural resources, the wind, the sun, geothermal."

The big argument has always been that the huge investments required to build roadways designed mostly for solo vehicle trips are funded by the oft used term "user fees". Gas taxes and highway trust funds gave us the illusion that each mile driven was more than covering the cost of our massive expansive roadway system. But the highway trust fund is nearly insolvent, and state, regional, and local governments are finding that user fees do not even come close to building and maintaining roadways.

That gap has been cobbled together with a patchwork (depending on the funding level) of general fund revenue, sales taxes, payroll taxes, vehicle registration fees, and property taxes. Just last November, Santa Clara County residents approved Measure B, which would add a $10 vehicle registration fee to each auto. This fee would be apportioned to each Santa Clara County city passed on roadway miles and population.

In a recent post I highlighted a presentation this week that San Jose's Director of the Department of Transportation needs $1 billion over the next 10 years just to keep his city's roads at an average maintenance level. Only about $2 to $3 million of the $100 million needed each year will come from the city's general fund. Measure B funds mentioned above will only contribute about $5 million each year. The rest of the funds which will come from State Proposition 42 funds as well as other grants will only total approximately $15 - 20 each year for the next 10 years, leaving an $80 million dollar shortfall each year.

Just to maintain the city's roadways at the same levels over the next 10 or 20 years will require additional revenue. San Jose city staff have recommended a parcel tax to cover these expected roadway maintenance shortfalls. Additionally it was mentioned in the tail end of an article yesterday in several Bay Area Newsgroup papers that a regional gas tax is being considered ("Bay Area transit agencies could save $235 million a year, analysts say"). Although traditional gas (excise) taxes are raised at the federal and state level (and in Oregon at the local level), this would be the first time that a regional gasoline tax will be initiated.

All in all, you can expect the costs of our expensive and aging roadways to go up. It's just that the costs, in the form of property, sales, and other taxes will go up but those costs won't necessarily be born solely by the users.

What are your thoughts on this subjects? Any comments.

It's time to raise California's gas tax - Los Angeles Times - 10-27-2011

Bay Area transit agencies could save $235 million a year, analysts say - Contra Costa Times - 10-27-2011

San Jose's DOT Director discusses the state of the city's roadways and how to repair them - One Square Mile -10-27-2011

Transportation for America - The Fix we're in for; The state of our bridges

BART to run longer trains but no extended service on Halloween weekend and Oct. 31

2011-10-28T05:18:00.001-07:00

BART will run longer trains in and out of San Francisco on the evenings of Friday, Oct. 28; Saturday, Oct. 29; and Monday, Oct. 31, to accommodate customers expected to be attending Halloween weekend and Halloween night festivities there. However, there will be no extended train service on any of the nights; service will end at the usual time. You can check schedules for the last train from your station using the BART QuickPlanner.

As has been the case for the past several years, there is no city-sponsored organized event in the Castro District, a historically popular Halloween destination. Instead, the city of San Francisco once again is encouraging people to celebrate at events in their own neighborhoods. For more info go to: http://www.homeforhalloween.com/

To avoid lines at ticket machines, buy a roundtrip ticket in advance or better yet, use a Clipper card and skip ticket machines altogether. More info at www.clippercard.com.

Caltrain to Operate Temporary Weekend Bus Bridge Oct. 29 – 30

2011-10-28T02:22:00.001-07:00

Caltrain will operate a temporary bus bridge between the San Jose Diridon station and the Santa Clara station Saturday, Oct. 29 and Sunday, Oct. 30. The bus bridge is necessary due to the installation of a new signal system at the San Jose station. During the installation, there will be no train service to or from the San Jose station.

Northbound buses will depart the San Jose station hourly, at 30 minutes past the hour. Most southbound buses will depart the Santa Clara station hourly, at 55 minutes past the hour. A schedule is available on the Caltrain website.

Customers also may drive [autos or bicycles] directly to the Santa Clara station, located at 1001 Railroad Avenue, to board the train.

Weekend shuttle bus service will be provided from the Tamien station to and from the San Jose Diridon and Santa Clara stations.

All passengers are asked to follow the directions of identified ambassadors at the stations and signs for boarding the buses.

The new signal system, which is part of the San Jose Diridon and Santa Clara Station Improvement project, will allow quicker train movements in and out of the busy San Jose station. In addition to Caltrain, the station also serves Altamont Commuter Express and Capitol Corridor passenger trains, as well as Union Pacific freight trains.

For trip planning help, call the Caltrain customer service center at 1-800-660-4287 or visit www.caltrain.com

San Jose's DOT Director discusses the state of the city's roadways and how to repair them

2011-10-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Last month the City of San Jose's Director of the Department of Transportation, Hans Larsen spoke to a full crowd of residents at the monthly Willow Glen Neighborhood Association meeting. Hans gave a presentation outlining some of the many challenges facing his department given the city's fiscal constraints. San Jose with a population just now surpassing 1,000,000 residents currently has 4,182 lanes miles of roadway to maintain.

The bill to fix this amount of roadway is now about $100,000,000 per year or $1,000,000,000 (thats $1 Billion) over 10 years. With the cities general fund being decimated by pension costs, only $2-3 million is the most that is available from this source. Federal, state, and regional monies are available but this will only total around $15 million per year. Of this $15 million $5 million dollars are proceeds from last November's Measure B that was passed by Santa Clara County voters. Funds from this measure will be available in the next fiscal year. This fee which is a flat $10 charge, is collected from every registered vehicle. The proceeds from the fee will be apportioned to Santa Clara County Cities (based on population and amount of roadway) as well as to the county's Roads Division. San Jose portion per year is expected to be at around $5 million.

This underfunding of repairs and maintenance is estimated to contribute to the growing backlog of necessary maintenance. Yesterday Director Larsen presented this scenario to the San Jose City Council urging the city to inialize a parcel tax to fund the growing gap in the maintainence deficit. The proposal is to raise an additional $60 million over 10 years by way of a parcel tax. The city will be closely watching San Francisco's November 2011 election to guage that city's appetite for increased spending on roadways. The city of San Francisco is putting Measure B (the Road Repaving and Street Safety Bond) on the ballot to improve their own roadways and finance sizeable streetscapes as well. Director Larsen's propsed parcel tax is estimated to average $300 to $400 per parcel.

San Jose mulls new parcel tax to fix city streets (San Jose Mercury News October 26, 2011)

San Jose Department of Transportation presentation to the Willow Glen Neighborhood Assn.

Originally a Power Point Presentation it has been uploaded as a pdf file with some mistakes in rendering the image.

MTC - The Pothole Report: Can the Bay Area Have Better Roads?

California State Propostion 42 - March 5, 2002 (passed 69.1%)

Santa Clara County Vehicle Registration Fee - Measure B (passed 51.93%)

San Francisco upcoming election for Measure B (San Francisco Department of Public Works)

October 26, Upcoming events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

2011-10-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

SF Bike Party

Autumn is here! (Check below for SF Bay Area Map)

Thanks to all the great people who rode on the 4th anniversary of the San Jose Bike Party. Some many of you have commented on the SJBP website that the ride just keeps getting better.

Halloween RiDE, Costume Contest and Crit

Thursday, October 27 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm

San Jose Fixed
Here is the link to share:
http://sjfixed.org/archives/1772

Santana Row Loop. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5156376
WE'RE RIDING THROUGH THE MALL.
Our yearly mall parade of costumed cyclists returns! Hit a thrift store, wear last years costume, or go all out and wrap yourself in duct tape. Dust off your bike and join us for some pre-Halloween shenannies. We will have a costume contest at the Santana Row lawn. Also, the will be Costume-only Crit at Santana Row.

Prizes will be given for:
Most Original
Funniest
Best Costume

Prizes sponsored by iMiNUSD.
ALL bikes welcome! PLEASE SHARE

SJBP "Homemade Superhero" Test Ride #1

Friday, October 28 · 6:30pm - 10:30pm

Extreme Networks - 3585 Monroe St. Santa Clara

Come help us test out the Nov. route. Everyone is welcome, no matter your skill level. Out first test ride is going to be a SLOW test ride. So if you're a newbie or just want to ride at a casual pace, this ride is for you (think Bike Party pace).

Here is the route:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1wdbvixqq8pN2IyYjc5MmMtN2M0NS00M2NhLThkYjYtNTQ0YjNjNWQ5MjFh

Santa Cruz Halloween Bike Party

Saturday, October 29 · 6:30pm - 10:30pm

Meet at The Clock Tower

SJBP "Homemade Superhero" Test Ride #2

Thursday, November 3 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Location: TBD (Somewhere near Lawrence Expressway and Monroe)

Halloween Family Ride in Willow Glen

Halloween Festival and Kid's Concert
Sunday, October 30
12 noon to 3:00 PM at Treehouse in the Glen.
2:15 PM - Halloween Costume and Bike Parade

Featuring:

Halloween Arts and Crafts
Halloween Carnival Games
Family Fun and Giggles
Face Painting and Balloons
Giant Pirate ship and Photo booth
Costume Awards and
the Papa Hugs Band

Treehouse in the Glen - 1275 Lincoln Ave., San Jose, CA

Tall Can Tuesdays
November 1, 2011
Meet in front of the Starbucks at 8:00 PM

Bike Soiree - Saturday, November 5, 2011
Campbell Ride - Sal's Pizza and Tread Bikes

A shorter ride and lots of good food (and beer?)

6:30-7:30pm - great pizza & cannoli at Sal's Pizza
most likely something over at Tread as well... might be 6-6:30pm or 6:30pm
working on something special with both owners (stay tuned for more details)

We can use any video, etc on Sal's Pizza TV for our event too!
For anyone that wants to bring something, share in the comments field.

Route (~15mi): dt Campbell to dt Los Gatos via LG Creek Trail (LGCT)

MAP

San Francisco Bike Expo (@COW PALACE)
Saturday, November 12 at 10:00am - November 13 at 5:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143604952396003

October East Bay Bike Party:

Friday, November 11 · 7:30pm - 11:30pm

Meet at: TBA

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

Airport Service Road Closed-but not for cyclists

2011-10-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ewert Rd. a little used access road just to the north of the main San Jose International Airport runways is a great cut through from the Guadalupe River trail system to Central Expressway and De la Cruz Avenue. Due to recent airport changes the area has been abandoned by the car parking lots, the rental agencies, and some freight operations.

Currently work is being done on the main sewer pipes leading to the bay so the the lane has been closed. However it is still open to bicycle traffic making the East / West ride.

View Larger Map

Occupy This

2011-10-24T14:01:00.001-07:00

Lone Occupier atop the Wall at City Hall. Media vans are now lining up.

San Jose Bike Party 4th anniversary ride - recap

2011-10-23T09:04:00.001-07:00

Posted on the SJ Bike Party website are these comments are
a recap of the 4th anniversary ride. The theme was the Rapture.

Bike Partiers: Thanks for making our 4th anniversary simply awesome! People were so excited and in good spirits last night, that it truly was a special ride.

We knew this ride had potential to be huge and it did not let us down. We had 4,100 riders in attendance, our second biggest ride ever. This was due in large part to the weather, which could not have been much better. A nice warm, calm, clear, star filled October night.

Once again our anniversary ride had 4 different starts. Santana Row, Campbell, Berryessa Theaters, and Eastridge. Since so many peeps had different bike party experiences for the first quarter of the ride, there was a lot of “where did you start?” conversations along the main ride. As we joined at the 1st regroup, the riders who got there first saw all these people arrive from different spots and it looked like they were in awe. Likewise, it seemed like their jaws just dropped when those who arrived later saw the Childrens Discovery Museum parking lot completely full.

Food trucks to feed the masses and t-shirt vendors were in abundance at the regroups and music systems were everywhere with a wide variety of sounds. Kudos to those with music!

Coincidentally, “The Rapture” was predicted by Harold Camping, to have taken place last night, hence our ride theme. But since you’re reading this today, his credibility is all but shot!

So who won last night’s battle… good or evil? It looks like there were an equal number of angels and devils out there, so were not exactly sure who won. Some were even dressed up as good and evil in the same costume! Kudos to those who make the effort to dress up!

One thing can be agreed upon though; our volunteers (BIRDs) did a great job directing riders at corners. Several bikers were heard commenting about how they were glad that there were people were directing them where to go. Kudos BIRDs!

There were the usual few red light runners, but the crown in general really stepped up and in comparison to last year’s anniversary ride, was a lot more respectful of our traffic laws. Many cars making lefts or rights were helped by volunteers or clear minded riders.

There was some litter left behind. But once again, our awesome volunteers (nicknamed RAVENS) did an amazing job picking up and leaving our regroups clean. This is something our riders need to improve on.

Lots of minor crashes and bike breakdowns were witnessed, but no major crashes were reported. YAY!!! Even though there were a few detours being taken by some riders, the routes proved to have been well thought out and accommodated everyone nicely. Kudos to those who planned the route (and tested out the routes on Test Rides).

BTW, everyone is welcome to join our TEST RIDES. Info is on our FB page or if you’re on our mailing list you will automatically get updated on when and where they are. See below on how to do this. There are usually at least 40-50 riders of all ages and skill levels and everyone is super friendly. These are a lot of fun!

And if you want to get more involved in Bike Party, there are many other things you can do:

Join Bullhorn, our SJ Bike Party Email List. You will get updates on upcoming Test Rides and special events.
Attend one of our monthly volunteer mixer/meetings. If you’re on our mailing list, you will automatically get updated to when and where they are. Meet other great riders just like yourself and see how Bike Party happens.
Become a BIRD (Bicycle Information Resource Director) volunteer. It’s a lot of fun and you make many, many, new friends.
Make a music system for your bike, and add to the party with your play list!
All in all it was a great night!! We’re already looking forward to our 5TH ANNIVERSARY RIDE!! Think of how special that will be !!!!

WE look forward to Bike Party continuing to provide great rides like last night and YOU in our great communities continuing to enjoy them.
Long Live San Jose Bike Party!!!

2nd Annual Walk 2 School Day a big success

2011-10-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

Asembly member Paul Fong
with Walk 2 School Organizer
Richard Zappelli

This morning Lincoln Avenue in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose was full of children walking and bicycling to school. Over 400 children and their parents gathered in the Bank of America parking lot to gather their baloons in preparation for one of three trips to Willow Glen Elementary, River Glen Elementary, and Hammer/Galarza Elementary school.

This event which was organized by local resident Richard Zapelli is in its second year. This year several local elected officials who recognize the value of walking and bicycling to school were on hand to send the kids off. California Assembly members Jim Beall and Paul Fong were on hand as well as San Jose City Council members Donald Rocha and Pierluigi Oliverio.

Archie Moore, Councilmember
Oliverio, Richard Zapelli and
local students prepare to
Walk to School

Willow Glen Neigborhood
President David Dearborn and
VTA's Brandi Childress

Yellow Balloons were
out everywhere this morning

Asembly member Paul Fong
with Walk 2 School Organizer
Richard Zappelli

San Jose Bike Party's Rapture Ride for October

2011-10-20T15:44:00.001-07:00

I'll be leading one of the "feeder" rides for tomorrow evening's San Jose Bike Party. Our ride, the Santana Row start will meet at the Winchester Theaters on Olsen Dr. next to the world famous Winchester Mystery House, across from Santana Row.

Stop by and say hello to myself and all the hardworking B.I.R.D.s. We'll be leaving the parking lot at 8:00 PM.

Here is the complete route sheet for our Santana Row ride. The other rides are listed on the San Jose Bike Party website.

October 19, Upcoming Cycling Events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

2011-10-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Autumn is here! (Check below for SF Bay Area Map)

New Bike Store in the Valley.
State Bike Shop just opened up in downtown Campbell Last Weekend.
Stop by and say hi to the new owners.
The Shop will be focusing on fixie bicycles and accessories.

Are you ready for the Rapture Ride. Come celebrate San Jose Bike Party's 4th anniversary. Come dressed ready for the Rapture dressed as an angel or a demon.

October 21, 2011- Friday - 8:00 PM

San Jose Bike Party - 4th anniversary ride

Rapture Ride

check website in by Thursday for more ride info

6ix Chix Mini-Randonee and Musical Gathering

Saturday, October 22 · 4:00pm - 7:00pm

6ix Chix presents an end of summer bike and music event. Join us for our first Mini-Randonee (a 20 mile bike ride) to Alviso and back with a short break at Maria Elena's. The ride concludes roughly at 7pm at 6ix Chix farmhouse with dinner, music and drinks.

For more info

October 22, 2011- Saturday - 10:00 AM- 5:00 PM

Pedalfest @ Jack London Square, Oakland

From people who've never been on a bicycle to people who never seem to be off one, Pedalfest has something for everybody.

For families, there's a kid's zone, bike parade and pedal-powered amusement rides. For thrill seekers, there are bike stunt shows by nationally and internationally ranked riders. For those who appreciate the beauty of the bicycle, there's a handmade and vintage bike show. Plus, you can grab a beverage at the... New Belgium beer garden. Add to that a pedal-powered music stage, bike demos, a bike clinic, bike-powered food vendors and bike rides, and you've got one heck of a festival. For a complete rundown of the day's events, visit http://www.pedalfestjacklondon.com

(KRUZ3R MOB) BBQ & Ride with our Union City pals!
Sunday, October 23 · 10:00am - 1:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167038710046911

(SF)Sunday Streets 2011 Season Finale in the Mission
Mission - 24th and Valencia
Sunday, October 23 · 11:00am - 4:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111731525601382

Halloween Family Ride in Willow Glen

Halloween Festival and Kid's Concert
Sunday, October 30
12 noon to 3:00 PM at Treehouse in the Glen.
2:15 PM - Halloween Costume and Bike Parade

Featuring:

Halloween Arts and Crafts
Halloween Carnival Games
Family Fun and Giggles
Face Painting and Balloons
Giant Pirate ship and Photo booth
Costume Awards and
the Papa Hugs Band

Treehouse in the Glen - 1275 Lincoln Ave., San Jose, CA

San Francisco Bike Expo (@COW PALACE)
Saturday, November 12 at 10:00am - November 13 at 5:00pm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143604952396003

Bike Soiree - Saturday, November 5, 2011
Campbell Ride - Sal's Pizza and Tread Bikes

October East Bay Bike Party:

Friday, November 11 · 7:30pm - 11:30pm

Meet at: TBA

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

SPUR Lunchtime forum - Fort Mason Streetcar

2011-10-18T22:08:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 19, 12:30 PM

The proposed project to extend the historic F-Line streetcar all the way to Fort Mason is making progress. Join Rick Laubscher, president of the Market Street Railway, and Doug Wright, project consultant to Fort Mason Center for details on the project, including its benefits, costs and plans for implementation. 12:30 pm.

This event is hosted by SPUR.
SPUR is located at:
654 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

This event is free to members. $10 for non-members. OK to bring lunch.

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:S Mathilda Ave,Sunnyvale,United States

San Francisco Begins On-street Car Sharing Pilot

2011-10-18T20:16:00.001-07:00

11 on-street spaces to be tested during six-month pilot starting today.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which manages transportation in the City, today joined Mayor Edwin M. Lee and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu to announce an on-street car sharing pilot program. Through this pilot, eleven on-street parking spaces will be dedicated to car sharing, enabling members of City CarShare to pick up and drop off car sharing vehicles in convenient locations. The six-month trial will include nine neighborhoods citywide.

“Placing car sharing vehicles on-street can make them more visible and accessible,” San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu. “Making car sharing more convenient supports the City’s Transit First policy by reducing dependence on private automobiles.”

The SFMTA is implementing this pilot under the SFpark umbrella of parking management using an agreement with the City Administrator’s Office and City CarShare. The pilot will test the feasibility and effectiveness of on-street car sharing spaces.If successful, the SFMTA will implement a citywide expanded program.

On-Street CarShare Pilot Locations

The following on-street locations were launched today:

Polk and Greenwich streets (Russian Hill)
Taylor and Pacific streets (Russian Hill)
38 Harriet Street (South of Market)
Valencia and 17th streets (Mission)
Clay and Fillmore streets (Lower Pacific Heights)
The SFMTA also plans to launch the following six spaces in November:

Carroll and 3rd streeets (Bayview)
3rd and 22nd street (Dogpatch)
Bosworth and Brompton (Glen Park)
Judah & 12th Ave (Inner Sunset)
Judah & 43rd Ave (Outer Sunset)
Judah & 44th Ave (Outer Sunset)
According to the agreement with

City CarShare, the SFMTA will receive $150 per space per month during the pilot. This includes the median cost for a reserved car sharing space in SFMTA parking garages along with all costs involved with implementation, including the cost of signage. The locations were selected in coordination with each district supervisor and area merchants. City CarShare continues to reach out to neighborhood and merchant groups about the pilot.

In June joint legislation was introduced at the Board of Supervisors by Mayor Lee and Supervisor Chiu to make the necessary changes to the Transportation Code. The SFMTA Board of Directors authorized the changes at their August 2 meeting. The public hearing regarding the placement of the on-street car sharing spaces took place in July.

Car sharing can help the SFMTA achieve its goals for parking management and overall goals for transportation by reducing parking demand and greenhouse gas emissions while improving mobility. While car sharing trips are still vehicle trips, car sharing can reduce private vehicle ownership rates and vehicle miles traveled. The new parking zones created by the changes in the Transportation Code will encourage car sharing by increasing the visibility, making it more convenient and increase the number of location options.

- Posted from my iPhone

Bus Stop Improvement Underway through February 2012

2011-10-18T07:52:00.001-07:00

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is upgrading bus stops, surrounding sidewalks and streets to provide better access for VTA customers through February 2012. Due to the construction, bus stops will be temporarily relocated close to the original stop, but safely away from the actual construction site. The work will occur during the day, taking anywhere from two days to two weeks to complete each of the sites listed below based on the scope of work.

Improvements will be made at the following locations:

City of San Jose
West Williams Rd./Winchester Blvd.
East Hedding St. near Coleman St.
West San Fernando St. near 7th St.
East Julian St. near 13th St.
East Julian St. near 17th St.
North De La Cruz Blvd at Montague Expy
South Capitol Ave./Alum Rock Rd.
North Senter Rd. near Singleton Rd.
South De La Cruz Blvd. near Clyde Ave.

City of Cupertino
South Stelling Rd. at Pepper Tree Lane
South Miller Ave. near Bollinger Rd.
West Stevens Creek Blvd. at Wolf Rd.
North Wolfe Rd. at Pruneridge Ave.

City of Mountain View
East California St. near Rengstorff Ave.
West California St. near Mariposa Ave.

City of Santa Clara
South De La Cruz Blvd. near Clyde Ave.
North Adrian Dr. near Amador Dr.
North Bowers Ave. near El Camino Real
South Murillo Ave. near Quimby Rd.
North Bowers Ave. near Monroe St.
South Murillo Ave./Chemin De Riviere

The budget for this project is $524,400. Last year, bus stop improvements were completed (primarily in the Story Road area in San Jose) with a budget of $724,000. Eighty percent of the improvements were funded by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration and twenty percent by local funds.
- Posted from my iPhone

San Bruno Caltrain Station Moves to Temporary Location Oct. 18

2011-10-18T06:52:00.001-07:00

Beginning Oct. 18, Caltrain will begin serving a new temporary station in San Bruno. The move is necessary to construct the grade separation that will elevate the Caltrain tracks over San Bruno, San Mateo and Angus avenues. The temporary station is located just south of and adjacent to the current station.

Train service will not be affected by the move. Tickets may be purchased at ticket vending machines at the temporary station. For safety reasons, Caltrain asks that all passengers follow the directions given on posted signs, as well as those given by ambassadors at the station and conductors on board trains.

Construction on the future permanent station and the elevated structure will begin at the end of the year and is expected to be completed by fall 2012.

The $147 million San Bruno Grade Separation Project will improve safety for both motorists and pedestrians and reduce traffic congestion to and from Highway 101 in the City of San Bruno.

In addition to the new station, there will be a parking lot with 201 spaces and a “kiss and ride” lot. The project includes three pedestrian underpasses - one in the vicinity of Sylvan Avenue, one at the new station and another between Euclid Avenue and Walnut Street. Additionally, elevators will provide easy access for Caltrain customers. Streets and sidewalks, including those at Posy Park, also will be improved.

- Posted from my iPhone

VTA to Host Public Meetings and Bus Tour on El Camino Real Rapid Transit Project

2011-10-17T18:52:00.001-07:00

Bus tour will showcase site-specific upgrades to corridor, forums to highlight plan for enhanced service

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will host four, open-house style public meetings and a bus tour (reservations required) to provide information to the community about the El Camino Real Rapid Transit Project.

The project would make changes to El Camino Real and to The Alameda between the Palo Alto Transit Center and downtown San Jose that would improve transit service and potentially change the character and use of the streets. The project proposes to speed up bus service throughout the corridor, including the route 522 Rapid Bus service, by installing bus-only lanes and light rail-like stations to allow for faster boarding. Project features also include bike lanes, sidewalk improvements, and high-tech upgrades to allow for real-time schedule monitoring.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011
From 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. - and- from 6p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
City of Santa Clara City Hall, Council Chamber
1500 Warburton Avenue, Santa Clara

Thursday, October 20, 2011
From 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. - and- from 6p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Hearst Education Conference Center
Jamplis Building, 3rd Floor, Rooms A & F
795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Space is limited on the bus tour and advance reservations are required.
The bus tour will make stops at key locations along the El Camino Real corridor.
Staff will discuss the project and answer questions showcasing site-specific examples.

Saturday, October 22, 2011 from 9 a.m. until noon
The bus tour will begin and end at the Palo Alto Transit Center located at 95 University Avenue in Palo Alto.

To make reservations for the bus tour, or for more information, please visit: www.vta.org/rapidtransit, call VTA Community Outreach 408-321-7575, or email at community.outreach@vta.org.

- Posted from my iPhone

San Jose Bike Party Celebrates 4th anniversary

2011-10-16T16:03:00.001-07:00

This Friday's San Jose Bike Party ride celebrates four years of community building nighttime rides.

This month's theme is the Rapture rid,e a fun take off on Reverend Harold Camping's second rapture prediction after his first prediction flopped.

This month, the ride will leave from four different locations providing "feeder" rides to the first regroup area. Come join the fun.

- Posted from my iPhone

New bike shop opens in Campbell

2011-10-15T00:13:00.001-07:00

I had a chance tonight to meet the new owner of State Bicycle Company which is opening up tomorrow in downtown Campbell. Katie and her husband are opening up their shop in the bustling Downtown Campbell Business District.

I wrote last week that business is so good on Sundays that Tread bike shop opens at 9:00 am on Sundays in addition to being the only bike shop in the area to rent bicycles.

Katie mentioned how excited they are to be in downtown Campbell which Is drawing dinners, shoppers, and event goers who are attracted by the quiet and safe street, access to light rail and the Los Gatos Creek trail, and the recent streetscape improvements.

They plan to focus on fixies, accessories, and clothing. The shop is located right near the light rail tracks at 416 E. Campbell Ave.

The couple chose to open this weekend to take advantage of the popular Octoberfest festival. Stop by the store and say hello and welcome the couple to downtown Campbell.

When things calm down after the opening I plan to talk to Katie and her husband to find out how they got started in the business and why they chose Campbell.

One Square Mile

Level of Service (LOS) <=> Level of Casualty (LOC)

Is There any There There?

City of San Jose's Trail Manager to speak at Save Our Trails Meeting

State Routes Relinquished to San Jose

City of San Jose to host public meetings on bikeway improvements

Shopping bags and transit trips

January 26, 2012 - Upcoming Social Cycling Events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

Caltrain’s Warm Planet Bike Station in Jeopardy

Plan Bay Area - Santa Clara Valley Version

iPhone App Review - SJ Transit Lite v 2.0

Bike Share in Paris - Presenting Velib

Activism and creativity among the generations

January 17, 2012 - Cycling Events in the Bay Area and Beyond

San Jose Downtown Parking

Innovating our way to congestion

I-280/I-880/Stevens Creek Boulevard Improvements Project Website

Comments on VTA Chair Yeagers remarks - January 5, 2012

Incoming VTA chair's remarks - Ken Yeager January 5, 2012

Jobs or Job-Years - Mercury News asks the question.

Caltrain to propose fare increases

Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager to chair VTA

Santa Clara to Diridon Station capital improvements almost complete

Happy New Year

San Jose's coming of age?

Transportation in the news - the Bay Area and beyond

VTA board approves contractor for BART extension to Santa Clara County

Father Michael Engh and Bill Coleman: Finally, construction will begin on BART to Silicon Valley - (MercuryNews.com 12/7/2011)

BART-to-San Jose extension could open 18 months ahead of schedule (MercuryNews.com 12/7/2011)

Urban Triage - Imported to Detroit

"With Detroit on Brink of Financial Disaster, State Steps In" - PBS Newshour

Congress, we can do better than this

Isaac Porras, founder of Solar Cycle takes his product on the road

TurningWheels for Kids big bike build this weekend

BICYCLE STOLEN OFF VTA BUS

Amtrak announces initial rollout of e-ticketing service on Downeaster line

Record Amtrak ridership over Thanksgiving holiday

Yet another Bay Area city faces costly road repair decisions

Detroit needs a new app - hooking our youth back on cars

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Guadalupe River bike trail improvements almost complete

Rail Highlights - Amtrak California's Capital Corridor

Amtrak California announces new on-board wi-fi service

359 State St. - New Los Altos bike store now open

Caltrain Seeks Volunteers for Bicycle Advisory Committee

USDOT awards $21 million to Caltrans for SoCal Rail

BART's Fleet of the Future will employ American know-how

Another Bay Area transportation agency to push for more pothole funding

There's no more change to be found in the sofa - Fixing San Jose's Roads

The Pothole Report: Can the Bay Area Have Better Roads - Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Roads Officially Worse Under Sanders, Report Says - Voice of San Diego

San Jose ponders where to get money to fix pothole-ridden streets - Mercury News

Pitfalls of Mayor Antonio Villaragosa's pothole project - Los Angles Times

November 16, Upcoming cycling events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

Blast from the Past - Thinking of the Current Transportation System as a Health and Safety Issue

James Howard Kunstler

November 9, Upcoming cycling events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

Napa County stakeholders forge ahead with plan for succesful road repair measure

November 2, Upcoming cycling events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

The looming showdown in surface transportation funding

BART to run longer trains but no extended service on Halloween weekend and Oct. 31

Caltrain to Operate Temporary Weekend Bus Bridge Oct. 29 – 30

San Jose's DOT Director discusses the state of the city's roadways and how to repair them

San Jose mulls new parcel tax to fix city streets (San Jose Mercury News October 26, 2011)

October 26, Upcoming events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

SJBP "Homemade Superhero" Test Ride #1

Friday, October 28 · 6:30pm - 10:30pm

Airport Service Road Closed-but not for cyclists

Occupy This

San Jose Bike Party 4th anniversary ride - recap

2nd Annual Walk 2 School Day a big success

San Jose Bike Party's Rapture Ride for October

October 19, Upcoming Cycling Events in the Silicon Valley and Beyond

SPUR Lunchtime forum - Fort Mason Streetcar

San Francisco Begins On-street Car Sharing Pilot

Bus Stop Improvement Underway through February 2012

San Bruno Caltrain Station Moves to Temporary Location Oct. 18

VTA to Host Public Meetings and Bus Tour on El Camino Real Rapid Transit Project

San Jose Bike Party Celebrates 4th anniversary

New bike shop opens in Campbell