Downtown BART subway alterations

After the huge debate between whether to use a double or single bore subway systems for BART's expansion to Downtown San Jose, it appears there is still some controversy with the design. It was decided that the expansion would use a single bore, which would make it the first system of it's kind in the United States. The key benefit of the design is that we would not have to dig up all of Santa Clara Street and disrupt businesses and residents for years. It would actually be less expensive to build. The downside is that this segment of the BART system would be completely different than the rest of the network, and that would require extensive retraining of staff.

Now it appears that there is a compromise solution, and that is to increase the size of the tunnel from 45 feet to a massive 55 feet. By volume, that is about a 50% increase in size. This would allow the trains to run side by side like the rest of the network, but would increase cost and complexity.

It is actually an interesting proposal for me because the extra space above and below the trains could perhaps be utilized for another mode of transportation. It looks large enough for electric buses or even Light Rail. Perhaps, we could see a next generation Loop or Hyperloop system utilize those spaces. While it is clear San Jose needs to be fully connect to BART, we should also think about how we can leverage this project to support the future generation of mobility.

Source: SVBJ

VTA calling for innovative transit ideas to connect SJC

The VTA as well as the cities of San Jose, Santa Clara, and Cupertino are looking for ideas on how to quickly move people between SJC and various parts of Silicon Valley. They want these ideas by September 30th.

Specifically, this consortium is looking for grade-separated mass transit at a significantly lower cost than traditional projects in two segments. The first is integrating SJC and Diridon such that they are viewed as a single facility--which would be amazing! I remember being completely shocked when visiting Hong Kong and realizing there was a special Airport train line where you can check your suitcases at the train station, hop on the train, and walk straight to security. Something that well integrated might not be part of the plan, but there are many airports in the US with people movers between terminals. How cool would it be if Diridon felt like it was just a quick terminal transfer away from the airport?

The second route would link the airport to three urban villages along Steven's Creek (I'm sure Santana Row is one of them), Santa Clara, Cupertino, and DeAnza College. This is a high-traffic route and extending BART or Light Rail down this way would cost billions of dollars.

It sounds like this RFI (request for ideas) is a way to legally satisfy the common government requirement of getting multiple bidders for each project. There is literally only one company right now that might be able to pull off something like this at a low cost, and it is The Boring Company. They are already designing an underground loop for the new Las Vegas Convention Center Expansion at a cost of about $10 million a mile. For less than the cost of the two-stop Eastridge light rail extension, we could connect SJC, Downtown San Jose, Santana Row, Santa Clara, and Cupertino with a fast and direct point-to-point transit system.

This could be the beginning of a whole new era in transportation that blends public and personal transportation together. San Jose should be leading the charge, innovation is our middle name!

Source: SVBJ

San Fernando Bike Lanes

Downtown San Jose has become of of the most bike-friendly urban centers in the United States and is getting better year after year. Check out the video below showcasing nearly two miles of continuously protected lanes down San Fernando Street.

Source: Sharkcity from the San Jose Development Forum

Lyft Scooters have arrived in San Jose

Scooters have become a popular "last mile" or micromobility transportation option for helping get people from public transit to their final destination or just for cruising around Downtown San Jose. Last week, Lyft tossed their hat in the ring to compete with Lime and Byrd. Here are the main points you should know about the program:

• San Jose is the first Bay Area city where Lyft is offering scooters
• Scooters cost $1 to unlock and 15 cents for each minute you ride
• With launch comes the unveiling of our Community Pass, allowing low-income San Jose residents  to ride for just $5/month.
• Lyft’s scooters are part of the existing Lyft app that San Jose residents already know and love, and can be rented with just a few taps in the app. Riders are also able to reserve scooters ahead of time.
• Lyft will also be providing trilingual on-scooter educational decals (English, Spanish, Vietnamese) along with Vietnamese translation of the San Jose microsite.

Below are quotes from Lyft, the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, and Councilmember Lan Diep.

Lyft: “We’re thrilled to bring Lyft Scooters to San Jose and provide a quick, affordable and sustainable way to move around - all within a single app,” said Jake Darby, Market Manager for Lyft Bikes & Scooters. “Lyft is committed to a future where cities are built around people instead of private cars — and Lyft scooters can play a key role in furthering this movement locally here in San Jose.”

Silicon Valley Bike Coalition: "Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition recognizes the enormous potential electric scooters have to improve mobility and accelerate our push for healthier communities,” said Shiloh Ballard, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. "We look forward to working alongside Lyft to support our overarching goals of making multi-modal options safe, accessible, convenient and fun."

Councilmember Lan Diep: “With today’s launch of Lyft scooters, San Jose residents will have an additional sustainable and affordable option for commuting across our city. I want to thank Lyft for working with the City of San Jose to better serve members of our Vietnamese community with trilingual in-app education and decals, and for offering its Community Pass to reach low-income residents across all neighborhoods."

The Lyft Scooter service area is below and for more information you can click here. 

San Jose Wayfinding Project

The SJ Economy Blog has some interesting information on a Wayfinding Project for San Jose. The goal is to provide block-by-block guidance to Downtown visitors.

One of the big challenges Downtown faces is that there are many districts that are poorly connected with dead space in between them--empty store fronts, parking lots, etc. Thankfully, the Knight Foundation funded a project to help overcome this key issue and city staff is working on implementing some of the proposals.

The first phase of the program will focus on delivering navigation totems throughout Downtown at key intersections. It will cover a ten-minute walking radius and the first totems will be placed along San Carlos between the convention center and SJSU. It will help visitors and students branch out into other parts of Downtown.

The totems for now will unfortunately be static, which is inconvenient as Downtown is changing very rapidly. I was hoping for interactive screens that would be better suited for the "Capital of Silicon Valley" and perhaps direct people to events happening that day or allow for integrating creative art or even location-based games. At least there will likely be a mobile way-finding element at some point.

For more info, check out the link below or check out the Knight Foundation report.

Source: SJ Economy Blog

Union Pacific vs. Neighbors

Starting last month, the Union Pacific railroad began running trains at 11pm and 3am through Downtown, Japantown, Hensley and Ryland neighborhoods. Apparently during some nights the trains run at 11pm, 2am, 3am, and 4am--making it very difficult for residents to sleep and potentially impacting property values. The only solution proposed so far is creating a quiet zone by installing millions of dollars worth of equipment at 19 crossings. Unfortunately, that won't be happening anytime soon.

If you are in an impacted area, you can access the petition over here asking the Union Pacific to return to regular operating hours:  https://www.change.org/p/zoe-lofgren-stop-the-union-pacific-late-night-trains-through-historic-san-jose-neighborhoods

Boring Company tunnel from Downtown San Jose to SJC

Last month there was a surprise announcement that Sam Liccardo has been in talks with The Boring Company for the past 18 months about a project that would connect Diridon to the airport via a 4-mile tunnel. The Boring Company is a disruptor in the tunneling space using hybrid-electric boring machines and several other innovations to reduce the cost of tunneling by a factor of 10. A two-way tunnel to the airport could cost less than $100 million versus the $800+ million a traditional people-mover would cost to build.

Now is really the perfect opportunity to start looking at next generation transportation options. As we have witnessed with California High-Speed Rail, paying for something that is both the most expensive and slowest high-speed train in the world makes little sense. Same goes for spending almost a billion dollars for a 4 mile people mover shuttling people at 25-35 MPH. If we can lay the foundation for a network that will reduce traffic and move people faster and do it at a far lower cost, that is worth exploring. Kudos for Sam for taking the initiative so long ago. Silicon Valley deserve a transit system that makes our innovative heritage proud.

Source: Teslarati, SVBJ

Stringent E-Scooter Regulations for San Jose

Guest Post by written by Samantha Larson

The San Jose scooter fad may come to a halt due to new legislation. Last week, the San Jose City Council passed stringent laws against scooter companies to help mitigate the serious safety concerns they present for residents.

To continue operating in San Jose’s city limits, scooter companies, such as Lime, Bird, and Wind, must receive a permit, pay an annual permit application fee of $2,500 and fork over $124 per scooter each year to continue operations. But with an estimated worth of $1 billion and $1.1 billion, these fees are merely chump change to Bird and Lime.

The real hard-hitting legislation is that these companies must also protect the city from legal claims and obtain sizable insurance. In addition to a rise in scooter-related injuries, scooters pose a serious threat to an already seriously high rate of pedestrian accidents in San Jose. To help combat these statistics, the ordinance will limit scooter speeds to 12 MPH, and come July, will force companies to find a solution to keep scooters off public sidewalks.

If companies fail to keep scooters off public property, the ordinance requires a 24-hour customer service line in three languages, English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, to respond to reports of improperly stored scooters within a two-hour window. Companies will also have to consider the socio-economic impact of their service: the ordinance mandates scooters will need to be equally distributed to low-income areas and provide discounts to low-income users. User data will be shared with the city of San Jose to track the number of devices and user behavior.

Any violation of the rules above will cost companies $100 for their first offense, rising to $500 fines for repeat offenders, with the possibility of having their permits revoked.

But San Jose is far from the only city passing stringent laws. Many cities nationwide are facing the duality of scooter presence; on one hand, scooters are eco-friendly and low-cost, but on the other hand, they pose a serious personal injury and public safety threat.

Since the birth of e-scooter dockless sharing began in February of 2018, it has helped San Jose towards its goal of climate change consciousness and Vision Zero. This being said, it has also birthed and exacerbated issues of pedestrian safety, equitable access, and rider education.

Though the ordinance is expected to come into practice by February, it is possible 2019 can bring even more changes for scooter services and rider expectations to best fit the needs and demands of San Jose city life.

What's Going on, Diridon?

The SJSU Urban Planning Department and CommUniverCity are hosting a community event to educate San Joseans about the Diridon Integrated Station Concept. As many of you know, Diridon will become one of the busiest transit hubs in the country over the coming decade--especially when the BART and High Speed Rail connections are complete. This event will provide some insights on what is already being planning and give you the opportunity to share your two cents.

There will also be free food, games, and raffles! The event takes place at the Poor House Bistro (87 South Autumn St., San Jose) on Saturday, December 1st, from 11am to 1:30pm.

VTA's Holly Trolley is back for the holidays!

VTA has a special historic train all decked out for the holidays that loops around Downtown San Jose. The train runs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from November 23rd to December 30th. It runs on the Light Rail tracks between the Civic Center and Diridon Station and is completely free. It is worth seeking out if you are visiting Christmas in the Park, Downtown Ice, or any other Downtown holiday attraction.

For a timetable, click here.

Ford GoBike is Expanding in San Jose!

San Jose's GoBike network is about to get a whole lot larger. At least 20 new stations are being proposed for 2019, and you can have a say in where those stations go! The plan is to extend coverage to the greater Downtown area, North San Jose, and Berryessa. The details are below for the next Ford GoBike community workshop, which is on Thursday from 6-8pm at Joyce Ellington Library (491 E. Empire Street). This is your chance to participate in the expansion of our bikeshare network.

San Jose, CA - Ford GoBike is working with the San Jose Department of Transportation (SJ DOT), District 3 Councilmember Raul Peralez and community groups to expand the bike share network in San Jose. Expanding the Ford GoBike network in San Jose is vital for providing riders access to new neighborhoods and increase network reliability. Please join Ford GoBike and SJ DOT to learn more about the bike share expansion plans for next year!

We are holding a community workshop to collect public feedback on proposed station locations to ensure we are designing a network best suited for San Jose residents and businesses. We will have a classic and pedal-assist e-bike on display and will provide free giveaways and light refreshments at the event. RSVP here!

Meeting Details

Date: Thursday, November 8, 6-8pm

Location: Joyce Ellington Library, 491 E. Empire Street (between 10th and 11th), San Jose

How To Get There

• Closest Ford GoBike Station is Empire St at 7th St then walk 6 minutes to the library
• 65 VTA bus stop in front of the library
• There is a parking lot behind the library (accessible on 10th St and 11th St) and street parking is available

Neighborhoods We Will Be Covering

• Northside (6 proposed sites)
• Greater Downtown (5 proposed sites)
• Metro/Technology/1st/Gish (7 proposed sites)
• Berryessa BART (2 proposed sites)

To view proposed bikeshare locations in San Jose, please see the Ford GoBike Expansion Map. Please contact us at outreach@fordgobike.com if you have any questions or feedback on any of the proposed station locations. We hope to see you there!

Downtown San Jose BART Station renders

Now that the construction methodology has been finalized for the BART subway in San Jose (single bore), let's have a quick look at the stunning station that is being planned for Downtown San Jose. To call the current design "open" would be a serious understatement. From the lowest point you can look up to the ceiling 145 feet or so above. The layout is modern and welcoming with high tech flourishes throughout. Check out the renders below of what will become one of the most iconic stations in the BART network.

Source: Robertee from the San Jose Development Forum

Wednesday Wishlist: Loops

It has been ages since doing a Wednesday Wishlist, and I can't think of a more timely one than this one. Transportation is constantly one of the top complaints of living in the San Jose area. We are plagued by levels of traffic that give even LA a run for it's money. We're spending billions on road improvements and public transit, but it does not seem like the net results will ever keep up with the increased demands of a growing population. We live in the innovation capital of the world, there has to be a better way.

Elon Musk has recently given a presentation on the first "Loop" tunnel, which is currently being built in the LA area (full video below) by The Boring Company. A loop is a lower-cost variant of the Hyperloop proposal a few years back. Stations 1-2 parking spaces wide would allow up to 16 people to enter a pod, which would then descend into a tunnel. The pod would then autonomously travel point-to-point to another station at up to 150 MPH. Rides are targeted to cost $1 per person, less than existing public transit stations.

Critical to making this concept successful is reducing the cost of tunneling by a factor of 10 from $1 billion per mile to $100 million per mile. This is possible by using autonomous boring machines with electric motors and batteries (surprisingly the same motors as the Tesla Model 3) that are faster and more efficient than existing machines. Most of the engineers working on the machines are from SpaceX--if anyone can figure it out, it'll be them. After all, they did figure out how to land rockets back on earth on a moving barge.

Given that we are at the precipice of next-generation transportation technology, San Jose should be doing everything possible to make sure we're one of the first cities to get access to Loops. Instead of investing in transit systems of the past, we should look to the future. Can you imagine connecting SJC, Diridon Station, and Downtown to every other part of San Jose within a 10min trip? Now's the time to start thinking bigger--or lower--for San Jose.

DASH is on the chopping block

Part of the VTA's plans for their new transit network include cutting DASH, a convenient free shuttle that circles Downtown San Jose. Scott Knies from the San Jose Downtown Association wrote a thoughtful article on how this would impact the area, which you can find below. The proposal is strongly opposed by SJSU, SPUR, and the SJDA.

VTA wants to halt DASH

Blog post by Scott Knies, Executive Director, San Jose Downtown Association 

February 14, 2017 

The free Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH) that averages more than 1,000 riders daily Monday–Friday between Diridon Station and San Jose State University (SJSU) is on the chopping block. 

Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) proposes curbing DASH and substituting a new bus route between Diridon Station and the Berryessa BART station. The new route would traverse downtown on Santa Clara Street and riders would pay regular VTA fares. 

San Jose Downtown Association (SJDA), SJSU and SPUR oppose the end of DASH and are registering concerns about the proposal to the VTA board. 

“Eliminating the DASH shuttle is another counter productive move which will affect SJSU students, senior citizens and our low-income residents who rely on this service to get around downtown,” said Ann Webb, a member of the San Jose Downtown Resident’s Association. 

DASH averaged 1,032 daily riders in 2016. Ridership peaked in September at 1,224 and dipped to 859 in June, corresponding to the SJSU semester calendar. DASH primarily operates on San Fernando Street, a route that will become increasingly important once BART subway construction starts under Santa Clara Street. 

“BART is a five-year construction project with major impacts near Diridon and First Street where stations will be built,” said Chloe Verrey, SJDA Operations Manager. “Now is definitely not the time to end DASH service.” 

SJDA helped initiate DASH in July 1996 when Adobe Systems, Inc. first moved downtown. Adobe was leasing space in Riverpark before its first office tower was completed and the free shuttle connected employees taking Caltrain to the downtown core. 

Adobe, SJDA, City of San Jose Dept. of Transportation, SJSU, VTA and regional air quality grants all contributed to fund DASH, which VTA contracted out to private shuttle vendors until taking it in-house in 2007. 

From July 2005 to January 2008 VTA changed the DASH route to Santa Clara Street, but ridership lagged as the shuttle took longer to negotiate traffic congestion. Since returning to San Fernando Street, ridership has rebounded, peaking at 1,046 average-daily riders in 2015. 

“It’s surprising VTA wants to eliminate DASH and put another bus route on Santa Clara Street again, especially with the BART construction looming,” Verrey said. 

Cutting DASH is just one of the many route and schedule changes proposed by VTA in their NextNetwork plan that aims to improve the agency’s overall fare box receipts and operations. See the plan at nextnetwork.vta.org.

Digging for San Jose's Subway begins in two years

Thanks to the election last November, San Jose is getting a legitimate subway system consisting of three stations: Downtown San Jose, Diridon Station, and Alum Rock. Construction is coming sooner than you think. Shovels should hit the ground in late 2018 and continue until 2023. The $4 billion subway is slated to begin service in 2026.

While the idea of a BART subway in our city is very exciting, it will mean epic construction projects, street closures, and all sorts of temporary inconveniences. Currently there are two potential options for building the subway, a single bore (photo below) or twin bore. The SVBJ lists the pros and cons of each, but there is no way around the fact that streets will completely be torn up to build the stations. The tunnels themselves will be deep enough underground to not have a huge impact on the surface.

Other areas up for discussion are whether to build the Downtown San Jose station in the East between Third and Fifth Street (closer to City Hall and SJSU) or in the West between Market and Third Street (closer to the Downtown core). Either option should attract the same number of riders and will permanently change the face of Santa Clara street.

There are obviously a lot of big questions and decisions, but it will certainly be a very exciting decade for South Bay transportation improvements.

Source: SVBJ

VTA Next Draft Plan

Fortunately, the VTA logo isn't the only thing that is changing about our transit system. There are significant route changes in the works to coincide with the arrival BART in the fall that sound very promising. In general, VTA is planning to reduce or eliminate routes with very low usage and re-utilizing that budget in highly trafficked corridors.

The proposed changes are too numerous to mention (list over here), but below you can see what the travel times from Downtown San Jose would look like before and after the changes. The area you will be able to get to within 30 minutes of Downtown will roughly double in size. However, your mileage may vary. If you live in the suburbs, say deep in Evergreen or Almaden, then your coverage area will likely shrink. To see exactly how you may be impacted, you can do your own simulation over here.

Current VTA Travel Times from Downtown San Jose

Proposed VTA Travel Times from Downtown San Jose

Our Light Rail system will get a major overhaul as well. The lines will finally be named after colors like most other metro systems in the world and a brand new line will be added that will run from the Alum Rock to Mountain View. Here are the proposed changes:

• Green Line (902)
• Northern end would become Old Ironsides
• Increase frequency from 30min to 15min during the weekday, all day long
• Yellow Line (Commuter Express)
• Northern end would become St. James Park
• Double frequency from 3 trips per peak period to 6 trips
• Orange Line (NEW)
• New line between Alum Rock and Mountain View that would connect Light Rail to BART
• Would run every 15min during the weekday and 30min during the weekend
• Potential express service is under review
• Blue Line (901)
• No changes
• Purple Line (900)
• No changes

If all of these changes get implemented that means Light Rail will run every 7.5 minutes (not including express trains) all day long during the workweek throughout all Downtown, Milpitas, Santa Clara, North San Jose, and East San Jose Stations. That would be a significant increase in service.

VTA introduces abysmal, terrible, AND horrific new logo

As regular readers know, I am usually pretty upbeat and optimistic. Unfortunately, this post will be a bit uncharacteristic of this blog... we are making a terrible mistake that will impact the region for at least the next decade. Before I get too it, let me start off by saying that I respect all the hard work the VTA has been putting in on trying to improve local transportation and later this week we will discuss some of the exciting route changes that will have a net positive impact for our city.

Switching gears, let's have a good look at the logo and slogan that will adorn hundreds (maybe thousands) of buses and light rail trains in the region. This is what will represent transportation in the most technologically advanced and innovative region in the entire world:



What... the... %@#&.

The first thing I think of when I see this logo is a Christian Fellowship. I'm Catholic and have nothing against religion, but that is not the vibe a transportation company should exude, except for perhaps a mortuary, hearse manufacturer, or ambulance company. Speaking of which, that is the second thing that comes to mind--a hospital like Good Samaritan or O'Connor. Have one more look.

Next the slogan seeps into your brain... "Solutions that move you." As Sal points out in his piece, "Solutions that move you" makes our transportation system sound like a laxative. That's right, the perception is that VTA is something that helps you go to the toilet. If you think I'm overrating, show the image below without the "Valley Transportation Authority" text to anyone that is not familiar with VTA and ask them what product they think this company produces:

To prove that this is not an early April Fools joke, here is what all of our buses will eventually look like:

Let me ask you, what about this logo represents Silicon Valley? Where do you see innovation, or diversity, or technology, or sunlight, or even transportation in this logo? I can't imagine a more vapid representation of Silicon Valley to slap on the side of our entire transit network. 

How did this happen? There were focus groups, people voted, this was a community decision. This logo is supposed to represent a peaceful ocean and sky, the white reminiscent of a seagull gliding through the air. Of course people are going to like in isolation, the logo reminds them of a vacation in a coastal town. But guess what--we are not Santa Cruz, Monterrey, or Hawaii, and we are definitely not San Francisco. Where does the ocean touch Silicon Valley? When was the last time you saw a seagull gliding through Downtown San Jose? 

This is so misguided, it's apalling. The last time the VTA changed their logo was 1998. That means we could be stuck with this aberration for the next 20 years! We have so many intelligent, creative, passionate people working in San Jose. We shouldn't settle, we can do better than this. We have accomplished so much as a region, we cannot let this be our brand.

San Jose BART Station - latest updates

San Jose is just one year away from finally being connected to BART. Below is the latest update from the VTA, which is responsible for the extension to Silicon Valley. Both the Milpitas and San Jose stations should be open in late 2017. Watch the short video below for construction photos and details.

Tramell Crow Diridon Project

A slick video has been released promoting the new Diridon mixed-use development in Downtown San Jose. As a reminder, the project includes 1 million SQFT of office space, 325 luxury apartments, 35,000 SQFT of retail space, and multiple public plazas.

The video cites various perks of the location including immediate access to the largest transit hub on the west coast, easy highway access, proximity to the airport, and of course being in the very center of the tech world. It is only 3 minutes long and is worth a watch. It's impressive to see the caliber of projects we are now getting.

Source: Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Diridon from Diridon on Vimeo.

San Jose Bus Rapid Transit overview video

VTA's first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line is getting closer to reality. Despite several delays, the line connecting East San Jose and Downtown should be fully operational in 2017. The blue hybrid "accordian" buses are already being used on the route. These are the nicest buses in the VTA fleet with comfortable seating, free WiFi, and bike racks both inside and outside the bus.

When the BRT line is complete, each stop on the route will get stations similar to Light Rail. These will have real time information for arrival times, local artwork, bright lighting, and 24/7 security cameras.

The other major improvement that BRT will bring besides the stations is faster travel times. This will be accomplished using dedicated bus lands in the median of Alum Rock Avenue as well as transit signal priority (green lights will stay on longer if a bus is present). You also won't have to worry much about catching a specific bus since they are only 10 minutes apart during peak hours.

Have a look at the 3 minute video below for a quick overview of the new system.