January 21, 20141 Comment on Cyclists for Santa Cruz Metro citizen committee
Santa Cruz Metro (the transit operator for Santa Cruz County, California) seeks volunteers to serve on the Metro Advisory Committee (MAC). The Santa Cruz Metro Board of Directors looks to this citizen advisory board for policy and operational issues that impact Metro riders. Meetings are the third Wednesday of every month at 6 PM at Pacific Station in downtown Santa Cruz. I’ve been asked to join, but I already have a long-standing obligation on Wednesday nights.
January 10, 2014Leave a Comment
The other day somebody made a time machine joke on the bus. I tweeted about it; Erik Griwold tweeted “Too bad DeLorean did not make buses.”
But guess what?
December 23, 2013Leave a Comment
VTA, which operates bus and light rail transit for the Santa Clara County, California (aka the “South Bay”), will offer free service on all light rail and bus lines from 8 p.m. December 31 to 5 a.m. January 1.
November 5, 20133 Comments on Music and dance for transit marketing
Most public transportation promotions seem to highlight the practical, money saving virtues of using mass transit. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (“VTA”) in California tries something a little different with a series of videos with decent production quality.
The first effort reaches out to the South Asian population who make up about 8% of the population in Silicon Valley. It’s a little campy but I like that they tried this “Bollywood” themed outreach. According to the US Census 2012 ACS one-year estimates, 6.5% of Indians in Santa Clara County use public transportation, compared 3.5% of the total population who do.
The second was release just this last week and seems focused on the youth market, showing public transportation in a positive way that’s not totally nerdy.
October 30, 20137 Comments on VTA: Models over estimate parking demand for transit
I’m reviewing the environment impact review documents for the VTA Capital Expressway Light Rail Project in San Jose, CA.
VTA plans to transform the Capital Expressway traffic sewer into what they call a multi-modal boulevard offering bus rapid transit (BRT), light rail transit, and safe connections to the regional transit system. The images below show Capital Expressway near Story Road as it currently is, and how it might look after the Capital Expressway light rail extension project is complete.
October 10, 20132 Comments on San Jose Turkey Trot gets alternative with their transportation plans
Update: The Santa Cruz Metro Board of directors approved early morning Highway 17 buses from Santa Cruz to San Jose to provide transportation to the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot on November 28, 2013.
The 9th Annual Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot will attract upwards of 60,000 people to downtown San Jose in an event that benefits regional food banks. Event organizers added a fourth beneficiary this year – Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County, and they hope to attract at least 1,000 runners from Santa Cruz County.
With demand for parking outstripping the 25,000 parking spots in the vicinity of downtown San Jose, Turkey Trot has always encouraged runners, volunteers and fans to find a way to the San Jose race start via something besides the automobile. (more…)