News Releases

Current

County Residents Give Thumbs Up to VTA Transit Plan Outcome for
1/8th Cent Sales Tax Still Too Close to Call

San Jose, Calif. – County residents voiced their strong support for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) transit program, with 70% of voters endorsing Measure C. Passage of this measure, which asked voters if VTA should continue to plan, design, construct, and provide transit services for Santa Clara County, demonstrates that residents recognize the importance of comprehensive, progressive planning for public transit in Santa Clara County, and they believe that VTA can deliver on that plan. “We are exceedingly pleased by this vote of confidence from the residents of Santa Clara County,” says VTA General Manager, Michael T. Burns. “VTA will continue to work with the community and stakeholders to develop the final VTP 2035 plan, which the VTA Board will review and approve in the coming months.“

Members of the public are encouraged to review and provide input on the Valley Transportation Plan (VTP) 2035 plan. There are 4 workshops planned in the next two weeks. Meetings to be held from 6 pm - 8pm at the following locations:

• Wednesday, November 5, Morgan Hill Community Cultural Center
• Thursday, November 6, Campbell Community Center
• Wednesday, November 12, Mountain View City Hall
• Thursday, November 13, San Jose City Hall, Committee Room W-120.

Santa Clara County residents also voted to support Measure D, which eliminates the need to bring costly advisory measures in future years, and instead delegates this responsibility to the Measure A Citizen’s Watchdog Committee. This change allows for more effective oversight, engaging the input from a committee composed of dedicated community volunteers that meets on a monthly basis, and will create a more effective process to receive regular input on local transportation priorities.

“The Citizen’s Watchdog Committee has several years of experience monitoring the expenditures of Measure A. They are familiar with the projects in this measure and that knowledge will provide a valuable foundation for their new role in providing an additional level of constructive input in VTA’s transit planning process,” said VTA General Manager, Michael T. Burns.

At this point the outcome on Measure B, the 1/8th cent sales tax to fund the operating and maintenance costs of the BART Extension to Santa Clara County is too close to call. Final results will not be known until all absentee and provisional ballots have been counted.

Although the final count may be weeks away, the preliminary results show that Santa Clara County residents have once again voiced very strong support for the BART to Silicon Valley project, despite the economic downturn of recent months. “This major transportation project, one of the largest in the nation, will connect with existing Caltrain, light rail and bus service to provide residents in the County with an integrated, convenient, environmentally responsible transit system,” said Liz Kniss, Santa Clara County Supervisor and VTA Board Chair.

 Go To Top

About VTA
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations; congestion management; specific highway improvement projects; and countywide transportation planning. As such, VTA is both an accessible transit provider and multi-modal transportation planning organization involved with transit, highways and roadways, bikeways and pedestrian facilities.

For more information about VTA services, call VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300, (408) 321-2330 (TDD only). Or, log on to www.vta.org.