From: VTA Board Secretary <Board.Secretary@vta.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 5:20 PM To: VTA Board of Directors <VTABoardofDirectors@vta.org> Subject: From VTA: April 23, 2019 Media Clips

VTA Daily News Coverage for Tuesday, April 23,

2019

1. VTA is free all day April 25 — why not give transit a try? (Mercury News)

2. One driver’s solution to ‘absolutely absurd’ I-880 mess: Roadshow (Mercury News)

3. Is San Jose's 'Better Bikeway' project actually creating better bikeways? Cyclists sound

off (ABC 7 News)

VTA is free all day April 25 — why not give transit a try? (Mercury News) Would a free ride be enough to nudge you out of your car and onto a bus or

light-rail train? The Valley Transportation Authority is hoping to find out Thursday when it offers free trips as part of Get on Board Day, a nationwide

effort to raise awareness and support for public transportation. It’s no secret that VTA has been challenged for decades, with cuts and

changes to service making travel sometimes difficult for even dedicated transit users and fare-box revenues among the lowest in the nation. But look

at Thursday’s event as a challenge to learn if public transportation has a place in some part of your day. Maybe you hop on a bus to lunch, take your

bike on a light-rail train or take VTA to Caltrain instead of driving. ADVERTISING

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a solo driver by default and am often

mystified and frustrated by public transit — especially how long trips can take. But a little planning can help ease that pain. The VTA recommends the

Transit app and Google Maps also has a reliable trip planner that can let you know if a ride should take 20 minutes or an hour and when you can expect

the next bus or train at a stop. You can get more info at www.vta.org. As part of Thursday’s activities, the VTA will recognize organizations and

businesses pledging to reduce solo driving trips. VTA General Manager Nuria Fernandez will be joined at a 10 a.m. event at VTA’s North San Jose

headquarters by a group including Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino; SVO

CEO Matt Mahood, San Jose State University VP for Organizational Development Jaye Bailey and Jim Mercurio, the 49ers vice president of

stadium operations for Levi’s Stadium.

One driver’s solution to ‘absolutely absurd’ I-880 mess:

Roadshow (Mercury News) Since flyovers would be so expensive at the Highway 101-Interstate 880 interchange and would take a generation to implement, what are the

chances of at least getting auxiliary lanes in the area? Larry Edson, Campbell

ADVERTISING A: Why is that?

Like Mr. Roadshow’s Facebook page for more questions and answers about Bay Area roads, freeways and commuting.

Q: Going south in the afternoon on 880 is absolutely absurd. As you cross over 101 there are 6-plus lanes with only one really usable lane for folks

going straight. As people approach Gish Road, it is not unusual to see cars and trucks at a 45 percent angle to the road trying to enter or leave 880. So

101-bound traffic tries to escape that by loading up the next two lanes which

leaves only Lane 2 for non-carpool traffic going straight. I saw a gas tanker in the No. 4 lane go around another semi in Lane 5 that was trying to

squeeze in at the last minute and had to take the dirt shoulder to muscle into the exit.

My proposal isn’t particularly cheap as it would require adding overpasses at Gish, 4th Street, 1st Street and Guadalupe River. But I think it would be well

worth it. Larry Edson

A: Me, too. Drivers have complained about this overused interchange since the late 1980s when 101 and 880 were widened.

South Bay planners have put a $1 billion price tag on a new interchange. Yikes (pick your curse word). That’s not going to happen.

But there is hope. The Valley Transportation Authority is expected to earmark $1.5 million to begin a planning study next year to determine what

changes could be made at a lower cost. It’ll take a few years to determine

what is possible, but new merging lanes are likely to be considered. What changes should be considered? I’ll cut off suggestions after the first

1,000 roll in. Q: During the evening backup on 101 in Mountain View, many impatient

drivers are moving into the northbound exit-only lane to Rengstorff Avenue, but instead of taking the cloverleaf to exit, they continue driving straight on

the shoulder as a shortcut to the merging lane for San Antonio Road. They are able to pass congested traffic, then merge back onto the freeway at the

end of the next merging lane. This is both illegal and dangerous to other drivers. Can Caltrans put up a

barrier or cones to prevent drivers from continuing on the shoulder? John Wang

A: I’ve passed this onto Caltrans, but it is unlikely as a barrier could lead to more dangerous driving. But a $2 million study to improve the

Charleston/Rengstorff Avenue interchange and 101 down to Shoreline

Boulevard will soon be underway and some type of barrier may be considered then. The estimate now is that changes will cost $40 million and

work done in seven more years.

Is San Jose's 'Better Bikeway' project actually creating better bikeways? Cyclists sound off (ABC 7 News) Since Fall 2018, the Better Bikeway San Jose project has changed the

commute through Downtown San Jose.

ABC7 News reported early changes confused both drivers and cyclists. Video

shared with the station showed a cyclist weaving through parked cars. Some cars were parked in newly painted bike lanes, others parked in lanes

seemingly meant for parking.

The City of San Jose's Department of Transportation anticipated an adjustment period as changes started to take shape.

"I used to almost get into bike accidents all the time on San Fernando

Street," Naglee Park neighbor, Amy Chamberlaine told ABC7 News. "I've definitely felt some of that mitigated."

Today, bright green bollards, matching paint and road signs are up and

established. All measures are meant to ease commuter confusion.

"It's a little bit of an adjustment," cyclist, Andrew Hsu admitted.

Hsu is also a Board Member of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition.

"It takes a little bit of adjustment, but I think that ultimately it's in the best

interest of everyone, and improves the safety," Hsu added. "And also, just for everyone else's purposes: for pedestrians as well as scooters, and for

cars."

Colin Heyne with the city's Department of Transportation said complaints about the changes have tapered off. The department will study project

impacts by summer 2019.

Still, some cyclists remain critical.

"Just stop changing so much so fast," San Jose resident, Arturo Ruvalcaba

said. He thinks the bollards are a bust.

"I think they don't need the cones," Ruvalcaba said. "It's kind of a symbiotic

partnership between drivers and bikers that I think the cones make it a little

more hectic for everybody."

However, others say changes force everyone to hit the brakes.

"I think it just encourages everyone to be a little more cautious and slow down," Hsu added. "Because there's really no reason to have to speed

through this urban area at such high speeds."

Heyne said his department has heard more suggestions on improvements-- idea that have led to slight adjustment.

"That was part of the point of a plastic and paint approach," Heyne

explained. "It is temporary in nature. We can move those bollards, we can change paint lines and so we can get it right before it becomes something

more permanent."

"I think there's still room for improvement," San Jose resident Michael

Huang said.

He pointed to more education for drivers about when they are allowed to drive into bike lanes.

"Because when people park, sometimes they still cut into the lane," he said.

Huang also pointed to issues he's experienced off a bike, and in the driver's

seat.

"As a driver, these wider turns are a little trickier," he explained. "But I mean, if you're looking where you're going, it shouldn't be much harder."

Heyne with the City's DOT said the Better Bikeway SJ project is close to completion. He said some portions of the project were delayed because of

wet winter weather.

Moving forward, Heyne said a few DOT projects got big grants through the state's Active Transportation Program, including $10-million to take the San

Fernando Street bikeway and make it permanent.

"We don't have it designed yet, but we anticipate concrete and maybe planters to make it both aesthetically appealing and much safer to use on a

bicycle," Heyne said. "And for pedestrians as well."

He added, "We see all over the country these projects reduce, in general,

injury crashes for all travelers- that's drivers and pedestrians and bicyclists.

So we're looking, hopefully to see that kind of data in San Jose."

Heyne has invited anyone with suggestions to email: bike.ped@sanjoseca.gov

"We've got big goals in the Bay Area, the city and our department for

environmental sustainability, reducing greenhouse gas emissions," he explained. "And we can't expect people to get out of their cars unless we

give them a safe and convenient place to ride a bike, or take a bus, or walk and so it's part of the plan."

Conserve paper. Think before you print.

From: VTA Board Secretary <Board.Secretary@vta.org> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2019 5:15 PM To: VTA Board of Directors <VTABoardofDirectors@vta.org> Subject: From VTA: April 24, 2019 Media Clips

VTA Daily News Coverage for Wednesday, April 24, 2019

1. Get on Board/Free Fares (multiple outlets)

2. With Google project looming, San Jose adopts new downtown design guidelines

(Mercury News)

3. Braking problems putting Muni’s new trains out of commission (SF Examiner)

Get on Board/Free Fares (multiple outlets)

KNTV (NBC)

KSTS (Telemundo)

VTA offers free transit on Thursday (Palo Alto Online)

Free VTA Rides April 25 For Those Who Get On Board (Patch.com)

BACK TO TOP

With Google project looming, San Jose adopts new downtown design guidelines (Mercury News)

With a wave of new development — from a massive Google campus to new Adobe towers —

set to arrive in San Jose in the coming years, the nation’s 10th largest city has set new

downtown design guidelines that aim to give it a “more human centric” feel.

Initially created more than 10 years ago, the guidelines have been updated and now spell out

everything from how signage should be placed — perpendicular, so pedestrians can see it — to

where parking structure entrances should be located — not near pedestrian building entrances.

Taken one by one, the updates seem relatively minor. But all together, they signal city leaders’

desire to make San Jose more walkable, more visually interesting and generally more urban.

“We want the city to be cool,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said, “more human centric.”

While the guidelines are tied to strict building rules and regulations, some are softer

suggestions meant to give developers and others a more predictable, clearer sense of what the

city wants and is likely to approve. The city’s director of planning, building and code

enforcement — currently Rosalynn Hughey — also will now have the authority to make “minor”

updates to the guidelines.

“We’re trying to retrofit a city built for automobiles into a city built for people,” Liccardo said.

But the changes have left some groups concerned. Environmental groups like the local

Audubon Society and Sierra Club are worried the guidelines could allow developers to build

with reflective materials harmful to birds, and the historical landmarks commission fears they

will permit new buildings to dwarf and overwhelm historic structures.

“If you want to build a beautiful city there are many ways to do that without killing birds,” said

Shani Kleinhaus, with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society.

The council agreed Tuesday to have staff do more outreach and get more feedback from

developers and others about bird-safe design.

“We have already seen current proposed projects such as the Boston Properties’ Woz and

Almaden project and Adobe Tower 4 project taking voluntary steps to incorporate bird safe

features in their design,” Councilman Raul Peralez wrote in a memo. “While we are fortunate

that these two major projects along the riparian corridor have taken the initiative to promote

conservation in their design, we may not be as fortunate in the future with other

developments.”

The guidelines, which take effect mid-May, will apply to new projects and major exterior

modifications in the area between Interstate 280 north to Coleman Avenue and Diridion Station

east to San Jose State University.

In the past, Liccardo said, “the idea was you had to build these fortresses…That thinking has

changed dramatically.”

Now, the guidelines call for design that fosters connection and easy transport across barriers

such as creeks or roads. Long, uninterrupted facades will be discouraged. While they

acknowledge that the nearby airport flight path limits building heights and a high groundwater

table makes putting parking and other utilities below ground challenging, “this area is rapidly

developing and affords opportunities to develop great civic spaces.”

Google is expected to design a major campus near Diridon Station, which itself is set to undergo

a major renovation. In the core of downtown, developers like Gary Dillabough and Jay Paul are

redeveloping major properties such as the Bank of Italy building and CityView Plaza,

respectively. A broad coalition is rethinking how the Guadalupe River front should look, and

many are embracing the previously verboten idea of allowing restaurants or shops along the

water to attract more visitors.

“This is the work of a generation,” Liccardo said, “building a city.”

BACK TO TOP

Braking problems putting Muni’s new trains out of commission (SF Examiner)

At any one time, roughly half of Muni’s fleet of new train cars is out of service due to

mechanical issues, transit officials acknowledged Tuesday.

Out of just over 50 new light rail vehicles, or LRVs, only 20 to 30 are functional enough to be in

full-time service at any point in time.

The rest are in repair for various mechanical issues, mainly braking issues that are causing the

trains’ wheels to flatten prematurely. Those wheels are now wearing out far faster than the San

Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency expected.

Transit officials revealed the problems at a San Francisco County Transportation Authority

meeting Tuesday, where they faced blistering critique from the Board of Supervisors, who also

sit on the SFCTA board.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and its Muni fleet are drawing increased

scrutiny from city officials following media reports that brought to light problems with the $1.1

billion new train fleet. The San Francisco Examiner found the doors’ “sensitive edges” were not

properly detecting objects in the doorway during Muni testing, and even caught a woman’s

hand and dragged her onto the tracks. Tuesday morning Muni officials announced they

would temporarily lock all back doors on its new trains to prevent such issues.

Additionally, NBC Bay Area found faulty couplers on the new trains, the discovery of which

stopped Muni from running two and three-car trains.

On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors, acting in its function as the San Francisco County

Transportation Authority, demanded answers on Muni’s future fleet. The transportation

authority had been set to vote on $62 million to fast-track the purchase of more new trains, but

that vote was stopped dead in its tracks after safety issues were discovered.

“That this happened at all is inexcusable,” said Supervisor Gordon Mar, at the meeting. “That

we were asked to expedite $62 million to obtain these vehicles while these issues remain is

indefensible.”

Many supervisors voiced concern they were kept in the dark.

“I’m a little shocked we are asked to fund a $62 million contract and yet we are not hearing this

type of information on what happened and what you have discovered,” said Supervisor Sandra

Fewer.

In addition to the issues with the doors and the couplers reported by the media, Supervisor

Aaron Peskin, chair of the SFCTA board, told the public during the meeting that he had also

learned of braking issue with the new vehicles that leads to the new trains taking too much

pressure on their wheels, flattening them.

The flattened wheels are caused by emergency braking maneuvers, which happen more

frequently than expected with Muni’s automatic train control system, a known issue between

the new train cars and the computer control system.

SFMTA confirmed those issues at the meeting.

“At any given time, only 15-20 of these three-and-a-half million dollar vehicles are on the track

at any given time due to the time of wheel flattening,” Peskin alleged. “Would you expound on

that?”

“We’ve had more vehicles than I’d like to see out of service due to flat wheels,” Julie

Kirschbaum, director of transit at SFMTA, confirmed, but noted that there were closer to 20-30

trains available at any one time.

However, documents obtained by the Examiner show the problem may be more severe than

officials indicated at Tuesday’s meeting.

Internal Muni maps show that during days in November, December, and even Monday this

week, as few as 13-15 of the new Muni trains were out on the street at any time.

And in an internal Muni memo from November, the “LRV4 Team,” essentially the team testing

the new light rail vehicles, reported that the new trains wheels were approaching the end of

their operable lives far earlier than Muni anticipated.

“The issue with wheel flats is such that some wheels are approaching condemning limits,” the

team wrote. “We are working with Siemens to make trucks and axles available for swap out,

even though we did not expect to have to do this so early and our equipment is not yet in

place.”

In addition to the braking issue, supervisors also pressed transit officials on the door issue,

which as shown in video first obtained by the Examiner, dragged a woman from the platform at

Embarcadero Station and onto the tracks on April 12. She was hospitalized and then discharged.

Supervisor Vallie Brown asked for Siemens representatives to verify their doors are safe.

Michael Cahill, president of rolling stock in North America at Siemens USA, the train

manufacturer, said you cannot engineer for every possible situation.

“I think one of the things that’s important to remember is that even in the presence of sensors,

no system, whether it’s sensors or anything else in terms of technology, carries all the

responsibility of safety,” Cahill said.

Cahill said there are sensors in the doors that open in the presence of a hand.

“What about a child’s hand?” Brown asked.

Cahill answered that a child’s hand “would be detected.”

In the end, the supervisors’ questions were summed up by Supervisor Matt Haney.

“It’s absolutely shocking and horrific and unacceptable that we would put our passengers in this

kind of situation,” he said. “Can you be confident in light of what you’ve seen that these are

safe?”

Kirschbaum said Muni is working to solve its train issues even now and would come back to the

supervisors — and the public — with answers.

BACK TO TOP

Conserve paper. Think before you print.

From: VTA Board Secretary <Board.Secretary@vta.org> Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2019 4:03 PM To: VTA Board of Directors <VTABoardofDirectors@vta.org> Subject: VTA Information: May 2, 2019, Board of Directors Regular Meeting Agenda Packet

VTA Board of Directors: You may now access the VTA Board of Directors Agenda Packet for the May 2, 2019, Regular Meeting on our website here. Please note the meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. with closed session in Conference Room 157. The Regular Meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. and will be held in the County Government Center, Board of Supervisors’ Chambers, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose, CA.

VTA has released a beta version of our redesigned website for testing at http://beta.vta.org. Starting in June, all meeting information will be in the VTA Board and Committees Portal at http://santaclaravta.iqm2.com/Citizens/default.aspx. By July, we will switch over to the new redesigned site. Please use the red Feedback buttons on the side of each page on the beta site to tell us what you think of the new site and how we could improve.

Thank you, Office of the Board Secretary Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority 3331 North First Street, Building B San Jose, CA 95134-1927 Phone 408-321-5680

Conserve paper. Think before you print.

From: VTA Board Secretary <Board.Secretary@vta.org> Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2019 4:57 PM To: VTA Board of Directors <VTABoardofDirectors@vta.org> Subject: From VTA: April 25, 2019 Media Clips

VTA Daily News Coverage for Thursday, April 25,

2019 1. Get on Board (ABC7 News)

2. VTA offers free transit on Thursday (Palo Alto Weekly)

3. Parking On El Camino Gets The Axe, BART Project Chugs Along (The Silicon Valley

Voice)

4. City Council Review: BART to Santa Clara? Maybe, Maybe Not (Santa Clara News

Online)

5. THE BAY AREA IS BETTING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON TRANSIT-ORIENTED

DEVELOPMENT. BUT IS IT WORKING? (Business Journal)

6. Uber wants to compete with public transit. These experts are horrified

7. Silicon Valley sets pace for electric vehicle adoption (Joint Venture Silicon Valley)

Get on Board (ABC7 News)

VTA offers free transit on Thursday (Palo Alto Weekly) Bus, light rail travel is gratis for 'Get on Board Day' On Thursday, April 25, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority wants

to treat you to your commute. Both light rail and bus VTA services will be free to the public, in partnership

with the American Public Transportation Association national "Get on Board Day."

Get on Board Day is a national advocacy event focused on generating

awareness about public transportation, in the hopes of increasing funding support, according to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority press

release. City and business leaders will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday

at VTA headquarters in San Jose to discuss the long term economic and environmental benefits of taking public transportation.

According to the VTA, "every $1 spent on public transportation generates $4 in economic returns."

Parking On El Camino Gets The Axe, BART Project Chugs Along (The Silicon Valley Voice) Eliminating street parking along El Camino Real saw significant discussion

during the last Santa Clara City Council meeting. What began as a routine note-and-file item ballooned into a lengthy

discussion Tuesday night. The topic returned on the consent calendar, an

amalgamation of routine items voted on in a single motion, but was pulled

for discussion. Council Member Teresa O’Neill pulled the item, saying “there have been

some letters” about the Council’s decision to eliminate parking along the El Camino corridor that she feared represented some “misunderstandings in

the community.” Because of conflicts of interest, Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Council Members

Karen Hardy and Raj Chahal recused themselves from the discussion. Howard Myers, a resident of the City, said the amount of times Council

Members abstain has “gotten out of hand,” calling it “insane.” Voters elect Council Members precisely because they have interests similar to their

constituents, he added. “The only person who can vote is the person who doesn’t give a darn,” he

said. “We need someone who has skin in the game.” Regarding the El Camino Focus Plan, Andrew Crabtree, Director of

Community Development, reiterated his presentation from February where

the Council directed employees to pull the trigger on an option that would widen bike lanes and rid the corridor of street parking.

This effort aims to stage the City’s largest commercial thoroughfare as a pedestrian-friendly streetscape. Another alternative — which still eliminates

street parking but also widens the median to accommodate trees — would also eliminate a lane for cars.

Many spoke about the need to increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians. “People are being killed,” said Council Member Debi Davis. “They go to work,

and they don’t come home.” One speaker, Gabriela Landaveri, noted that on-street parking reduces

visibility. Concerns over safety along El Camino Real are not contained to Santa

Clara, nor are they unfounded. The Bikes and Pedestrians Commission recommended eliminating the street

parking when the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) repaves

the road, which has already gotten underway and stretches into the summer.

Although the deadline for the El Camino Specific Plan is the end of June 2020, Crabtree said the Council should expect to see its completion by early

2020. Eliminating parking to make way for more landscaping and wider bike lanes will cost the City an addition $120,000 and delay the project roughly 3

months. BART Extends to Santa Clara

By this time next year, the Valley Transit Authority (VTA) should know the status of its federal grant application. The grant will fund the remaining

$1.35 billion for phase two of a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) line that would bring a station to Santa Clara.

During an informational report, Ron Golem, Deputy Director of Real Estate

for VTA, and Jill Gibson, VTA Outreach Manager, told the Council VTA wants to build on its relationship with the City.

Golem called the BART extension a “once-in-a-century opportunity” that will build a series of transit-oriented communities throughout the Bay Area.

The $5.5 billion project will add underground stations at Alum Rock/28th Street, San Jose Diridon and downtown San Jose in addition to the above-

ground station at the existing CalTrain station in Santa Clara. By 2035, VTA estimates daily ridership at the Santa Clara station to be up to 7,800,

according to a VTA factsheet. Passenger service is scheduled to begin in 2026, according to VTA.

Council Befriends Korean City The Council also approved naming Icheon City, Korea a Friendship City.

Icheon City, said Water Rossmann, the City’s Chief Operating Officer, shares some similarities with Santa Clara, namely that it too is a manufacturer of

semiconductors and plays host to a university. The Cultural Commission and

Rossmann recommended a three-year Friendship City status. Being a Friendship City is the first step in becoming a Sister City. Santa

Clara has three Sister Cities: Limerick, Ireland; Izumo, Japan; and Coimbra, Portugal.

Although the City has repeatedly put the kibosh on establishing a Koreatown in Santa Clara, members of the Council lauded Korean-owned businesses.

Vice Mayor Patricia Mahan said “they have contributed so much” while Mayor Lisa Gillmor said “they are part of us.”

“We feel a great love and connection, so this is real natural for us to take the next step,” Gillmor said.

“This is the beginning of a new era.” Construction Bolsters City Coffers

Also on the consent calendar was February’s financial report. The report shows that the City’s total revenue has increased by 15.5 percent over the

past year while spending has only increased 8.4 percent.

Notable among revenue was a 76 percent increase in permit revenue due to new construction.

The Council meets again April 30 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.

City Council Review: BART to Santa Clara? Maybe, Maybe Not (Santa Clara News Online) The Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) staff gave an update on the “BART Phase II Project and the associated Transit Oriented Development

Corridor Strategies and Access Planning Study.”

The VTA staff gave a lot of interesting info. But they couldn’t answer some big questions.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Councilwoman Karen Hardy raised the issue of

how VTA proposed cutting the Santa Clara BART station in the past. So lots of people in this community don’t trust them. (Thanks to the Mayor for

referencing the people who read our story on NextDoor.) The VTA staff said a Santa Clara station was important for lots of reasons.

One of them is that they need tracks in Santa Clara for a maintenance facility. But they couldn’t offer any guarantees.

Councilwoman Debi Davis asked about land acquisition and funding. VTA hasn’t purchased a key property on Brokaw for the Santa Clara station. VTA

staff said they’ll try and do without it by redesigning the station. They also couldn’t say if we’ll need another tax if federal funds don’t come through.

THE BAY AREA IS BETTING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON TRANSIT-ORIENTED

DEVELOPMENT. BUT IS IT WORKING? (Business Journal) Dozens of transit-oriented developments (TOD) are springing up in the Bay Area’s urban cores and suburbs alike. Just one problem: No one really knows

how effective these projects are in boosting transit use and reducing traffic. Transit-oriented development has been a Bay Area buzzword for the last 15

years, heralded as the best weapon against the housing crisis, gridlocked

traffic and widening sprawl. Across the region, developers have pushed dozens of TOD projects into

urban centers and far-flung suburbs alike, from Oakland’s Fruitvale Village to Walnut Creek. Meanwhile in Sacramento, the idea has grown legislative legs

in proposals that would spur development near high-frequency transit stops. “TOD is not only the rage, but it’s the right thing to do,” said Brian

Fitzpatrick, real estate and property manager at SamTrans. “Get people closer to their jobs, get people closer to transit.”

It “just makes sense,” as AvalonBay senior vice president Nathan Hong put it.

But for all the chatter, a lack of comprehensive data about how Bay Area TOD projects have fared — in terms of transit use, traffic reduction or quality

of life for residents — makes it difficult to keep transit-oriented development aligned to its lofty goals.

There’s minimal Bay Area-specific data to guide decisions about key issues

like parking, amenities and transit access. Developers and planners are often left to follow their hunches.

“It’s interesting how much money we’ve put into TOD projects and encouraging them … but how little we really know about the success of

them, and also how little strategy we have with TOD in the region,” said Tom Radulovich, executive director of nonprofit Livable City who served

as a BART director from 1996 to 2016. (Not) tracking success

The big-picture idea behind TOD is to get people out of their cars. Research has shown that people living near transit are about five times more likely to

use it than the average commuter in the same city.

But no comprehensive data tells us how effective TOD sites have been at

moving the needle in the Bay Area, said Kate White, planning leader for Arup and former state housing and environmental official. Instead, TOD

studies are “piecemeal,” she said, spliced between the state’s 28 different transit agencies and often limited in scope.

Even collecting basic inventory of TOD projects can be difficult for staff-starved public agencies, said BART’s TOD program manager Abigail Thorne-

Lyman. This year, BART has kicked off a study with UC Berkeley to survey residents’ transit patterns within a quarter-mile of its stations — for the first

time since 2004. “It’s really hard to monitor and collect this information, and it can take

several years,” Thorne-Lyman said. “In terms of ‘does it work’ — do people actually take BART? — that requires tailored survey work that’s pretty

resource-intensive.” Some developers track anecdotal data about their own projects, but few with

any consistency. AvalonBay Communities, for example, conducted a

commuting survey at its 422-unit project in Walnut Creek in 2017, finding that about 42 percent of residents reported using BART daily.

But many outside studies about parking needs and desirable TOD amenities are already several years outdated by the time they’re published, said Hong

of AvalonBay. “It would definitely help if there was more parking usage data, for example,

that tracked things year-over-year — it would help pick up a lot of information on how people live, travel, actually take transit,” Hong said.

Creating a sense of place Back when AvalonBay first started developing TOD projects in the early

2000s, some people questioned who would want to live with the constant disruption of transit, said Jeff White, senior development director.

AvalonBay’s completed or in-progress TOD projects include 505 units at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station and 438 units at the Union City BART

station.

But the market has borne out, in part because developers have taken wide-ranging approaches to designing welcoming TOD sites.

The Fruitvale Transit Village in Oakland, for example, includes both affordable housing, ground-floor retail with offerings like a beignet shop and

a bank, plus a preschool and community services. It’s been held up as a national model after a UCLA study found it helped to spur socio-economic

improvements in the neighborhood without displacing Latino and black residents.

Equally important is the project’s genuine sense of place, said Chris Iglesias, CEO of Fruitvale’s nonprofit developer, the Unity Council, during a recent

walk-through of the village. As trains sped by, a group of teenagers shared a smoke outside the beignet shop and preschool workers waved to passersby.

“It feels like a TOD that has a heart — it’s very much community folks and

members hanging around, a lot of strollers,” Iglesias said. That feeling can actually be measured through “quality of life” scores,

Radulovich said, including walkability, the interconnectedness of streets and surrounding income levels. Most transit-oriented developers also push for

open space and hangout nooks, which make residents feel at home, said John Eudy of longtime developer Essex Property Trust.

Of course, that doesn’t prescribe a one-size-fits-all standard, either. At Essex’s multi-phase Station Park Green project at San Mateo’s Hayward Park

Caltrain Station, a rooftop hangout spot, a “zen garden” and a bocce ball court aim to attract a more suburban crowd.

The question still unanswered is how these different versions of placemaking perform overall, said Radulovich. In other words, while projects should serve

their location and demographic, the Bay Area still needs “state of the union” data to advise decisions.

“The good news is that we know more than we did 20 years ago in terms of

making good places,” Radulovich said. “The thing that seems lacking is gathering data around policies and practices in terms of both transit

agencies, employers, owners of housing — and making sure all those practices are the best practices.”

Lagging regulations Whether it was a San Leandro project that took a decade to break ground or

a Millbrae project already five years into negotiations, TOD is typically complicated, involving public agencies and private developers and taking

years to come to fruition. Not having up-to-date data and regulations makes it even harder,

developers say. Case in point: When Panoramic Interests first proposed its 1,032-apartment project next to the West Oakland BART station, CEO

Patrick Kennedy wanted just eight parking spaces on the site. The city disagreed, and Kennedy compromised with 59 spots. Because

“nobody knows” how much parking is the right amount, Fitzpatrick of

SamTrans said, there’s wide variation in how up-to-date cities’ requirements are, and how aggressively they are enforced.

“The regulations lag quite a bit. You try not to build something obsolete on day one, but you have to comply with current regulations,” said Jeff White.

Both AvalonBay and Essex, for instance, have conceived ways to build parking garages that could be converted to new uses sometime in the

future. Despite those workarounds — and cities’ frequent reluctance to make radical

decisions — developers and policymakers say the hunger for TOD is obvious: Residents actively look for units near transit. People are sick of traffic. And

more than ever, the Bay Area needs homes. “If we didn’t believe it’s working,” Eudy said, “we wouldn’t be developing

next to transit stations.”

Uber wants to compete with public transit. These experts

are horrified Bottom of Form (CNN) Uber took down the taxi industry and now it wants a piece of public transit.

That has transportation and urban planning experts deeply worried. For years, as it aggressively entered new markets, Uber has maintained that

it is a complement and ally of public transit. But that messaging changed earlier this month, when Uber released its S-1 ahead of its upcoming initial

public offering.

In the regulatory filing, Uber said its growth depends on better competing with public transportation, which it identifies as a $1 trillion market it can

grab a share of over the long-term. Uber, which lost $1.8 billion in 2018, said it offers incentives to drivers to

scale up its network to attract riders away from personal vehicles and public transportation.

Transportation experts say that if Uber grabs a big chunk of its target market — 4.4 trillion passenger miles on public transportation in the 63

countries in which it operates — cities would grind to a halt, as there would literally be no space to move on streets.

“It’s a world in which large cities essentially break down,” said Christof Spieler, who teaches transportation at Rice University and wrote the book

“Trains, Buses, People.” “Try to imagine the island of Manhattan, and everyone taking the subway being in a ride-share. It just doesn’t function.”

Ride-hailing companies such as Uber have burned through billions of

investor dollars to offer cheap rides. The taxi business has been devastated as a result and cities have scrambled to measure ride-hailing’s impacts, from

congestion to worker wages. Uber has pointed to research presenting a positive impact on the economy, and embraced congestion pricing, a popular

solution to gridlock among urbanists. Now, as it prepares to go public, Uber is painting an even grander vision for investors, with a massive growth

opportunity in attracting riders away from public transportation. But transit experts warn that when riders shift from buses and subways to

ride-sharing sedans and SUVs, they’re taking up much more space, leading to congested roads.

“It’s taking us back to a city where there’s less and less space for public transit,” said Jarrett Walker, a transportation consultant. “It may make

sense to pursue that [business] strategy, but it may also be a strategy that’s destroying the world. It’s certainly destroying the urban world.”

A shift from public buses and trains to Uber could also have impacts on

transportation workers’ quality of life. Public transit jobs are generally considered more desirable than driving for Uber, given differences in

compensation and high turnover rates among ride-hailing drivers.

In a statement, Uber said its goal is to extend and complement existing city

infrastructure. “As we move toward our vision of becoming a one-stop shop for

transportation in cities, we want riders to have the right option available at their fingertips for every trip. Many times, it can be faster or cheaper to take

public transportation than any other form of travel,” Uber said. “That’s why we’ve begun to integrate transit into our app, and why we’ll continue to

partner with local leaders and transit agencies as we work to reduce personal car ownership.”

Uber’s rival Lyft didn’t describe public transportation as a competitor in its S-1. But while the corporate mission may be different, in practice there’s little

difference, experts say. “In terms of the basics of how they function in the city, they’re the same

thing, competing for the same trips and using the same amount of street space,” Spieler said.

Lyft described itself in a statement as a valuable part of multimodal

transportation systems that allow people to live without owning a car. “Lyft is confident that our service is a complement to public transit,”

spokeswoman Alexandra LaManna said. “We are committed to effecting positive change for our cities by promoting transportation equity through

shared rides, bikeshare systems, electric scooters, and public transit partnerships.”

Bruce Schaller, a transportation consultant who has researched the impact of ride-hailing on public transit, expects that cities will be forced to intervene

and add restrictions to ride-hailing services such as Uber to prevent negative consequences. New York City, for example, has capped the number of ride-

hailing vehicles and is developing congestion pricing, an additional fee for driving in part of the city.

“To have this big company about to go public, being so upfront about well, we’re going after your public transportation rider, even though we know this

is bad for cities, it’s just very jarring,” Schaller told CNN Business.

Public transportation ridership is declining nationally, making it harder to pay for a $90 billion maintenance backlog that a 2015 US Department of

Transportation study found. Jeff Speck, a city planner and author of the book Walkable City Rules: 101

Steps to Making Better Places, said he felt personally hurt by Uber’s new candor on public transportation.

Speck said he spoke at Uber’s San Francisco headquarters in October 2017, and talked to employees about the danger of overly designing cities around

car transportation. “I was one of many people who was suckered into that, ‘at least their

intentions were good,'” Speck said. “There are many people at Uber who really believed that line about transit, and I’m curious how they’re feeling

right now.”

Silicon Valley sets pace for electric vehicle adoption (Joint Venture Silicon Valley)

Joint Venture’s Institute for Regional Studies in April reported that Silicon Valley’s total number of registered electric vehicles (EVs)

surpassed 80,000 in 2018, comprising nearly 20% of all such vehicles in California, and by far the highest numbers of any region

per capita.

While Silicon Valley vehicle owners account for 8.3% of all registered light-duty vehicles in California, the region accounts for

19.4% of all electric vehicles.

According to Institute analysis, Silicon Valley drivers have registered 83,440 light-duty electric vehicles in total, including

63% battery electric and 37% plug-in hybrid vehicles. This analysis includes data released from the California Department of

Motor Vehicles (DMV) March 19 on vehicle registrations by fuel

type as of October 2018. This newly-available dataset is a more accurate gauge of electric vehicle adoption than the more

commonly used California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) totals, since many vehicle owners have incomes that render them

ineligible for the rebate.

“You can't have a great city without a great university, and you can't have a great university without a great city.” -Dr.

Mary A. Papazian

Dr. Mary A. Papazian has the pedigree to lead a great university. A

native of Los Angeles, Dr. Papazian had nearly 30 years of teaching and academic administrative experience when she

became San Jose State University’s 30th president and the first Armenian American female president of a university on July 1,

2016. That same year she joined the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Board of Directors.

What is apparent after spending time with Dr. Papazian is that San Jose State and the surrounding community means a great deal to

her. She is committed to delivering the best possible education to her diverse student population, ensuring that the university has a

seat at the table as decisions are made on urban growth and development, and giving back to the community. How does she

gauge San Jose State’s role? Google is building a San Jose campus

of 20,000 employees; the university, she notes, has a campus of 40,000 already thriving in the city center.

“Our students do well and nobody knows it. But the truth is the City of San Jose is in the same boat.”

With funding provided by an anonymous family foundation, Joint Venture has convened the mayors of eight mid-Peninsula cities

and paired them with the senior transportation planners at eight

tech companies. The talks, dubbed the "Manzanita Talks," are exploring the logic and feasibility of cross-sector collaboration to

address the peak-hour congestion plaguing the region.

Carried out in partnership with the Bay Area Council, the talks will also explore the possibility of forming a sub-regional

Transportation Management Association (TMA) on the mid-Peninsula. Facebook, Genentech, Google, Intuit, LinkedIn, Palantir,

and Tesla are among the firms participating. Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock is acting as facilitator.

Conserve paper. Think before you print.

From: VTA Board Secretary <Board.Secretary@vta.org> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2019 4:45 PM To: VTA Board of Directors <VTABoardofDirectors@vta.org> Subject: From VTA: April 26, 2019 Media Clips

VTA Daily News Coverage for Friday, April 26, 2019 Get on Board (Telemundo Ch. 48) (Link to video in Spanish)

Conserve paper. Think before you print.