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Palo Alto- In an effort to best serve Palo Alto’s unique transit needs, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the City of Palo Alto are working together to gather community input.  VTA and city officials, along with representatives from the Stanford University Marguerite Shuttle, Caltrain, Dumbarton Express and SamsTrans are inviting local residents, elected officials, community leaders and business owners to a final meeting on transit in Palo Alto, which will include formal recommendations to the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission.

In addition to launching VTA’s new bus service operating plan effective January 14, 2008, VTA is conducting a community transit study aimed at addressing the overall efficiency of Palo Alto’s transit system.  The study’s objective is to improve coordination among transit operators.  The community meeting is the last of three public workshops to obtain comments and recommendations from residents and interested stakeholder groups. The first meeting held in October, focused on the market for transit and routes in South Palo Alto.  The second meeting held in November examined proposals for new or revised local routes and funding options. 

Based on input at these meetings, VTA and City of Palo Alto staff finalized a service plan to modify Community Bus Lines 88 and 89 to improve transit services in Palo Alto.  The proposed new service is slated to begin operation in July 2008. 

The final meeting aims to take all the service recommendations gathered from the public workshops and present them to the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission.  The Commission’s recommendation will then be considered by the Palo Alto City Council on December 17^th and by the VTA Board of Directors on January 3, 2008.

Palo Alto Community Workshop III will be held:
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
7:00 P.M.
Palo Alto City Hall- Council Chambers
250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto
VTA Bus Line 35 serves this location.

Those unable to attend this meeting may make written comments by email to community.outreach@vta.org or send them to VTA Community Outreach Department, 3331 North First Street, Bldg. B, San Jose, CA 95134 or by telephone 1(800)894-9908, TDD only (408)321-2330.                 

Background of Palo Alto Community Transit Study:

In August 2007 the VTA Board of Directors adopted a new Bus Service Operating Plan which will make major modifications to the current bus transit network.  The Plan was the product of a Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA), an 18-month effort to develop a transit investment policy, evaluate market opportunities and identify improvements to VTA’s bus transit network.  VTA’s new Bus Service Plan goes into effect January 2008.

The Plan includes introducing Community Bus Service throughout Santa Clara County.  This service features smaller vehicles with an identity tied to the individual communities served.  In Palo Alto, Line 88 serving South Palo Alto and Gunn High School and a new Line 89 serving the Stanford Research Park will both be Community Bus service.

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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.