VTA’s Community Outreach and Public Engagement, or COPE, team has been out in full force in May spreading the word about VTA’s capital projects and programs.  Over the past month, COPE has led or participated in over 20 community events to share information about the work that the entire organization does in service of providing, planning and building transportation infrastructure in Santa Clara County.

COPE’s work does not begin and end at the event or the meeting. Each staffer embeds with their project team over the life of the project to deeply understand the work, understand where the community can provide input, look for opportunities to share information, draft web, social media and newsletter content, reach out to constituents one on one or to community and stakeholder groups, and work with multiple departments to get the job done. 

In May, COPE supported and participated in:

1. Senior Outreach Program, providing information for senior mobility solutions and sharing VTA information for Older Americans month at six senior events’
2. Transit Oriented Communities Grant launch, reaching out to stakeholders and organizing grant workshops led in English and Spanish while implementing a social media and content campaign
3. Rail Rehabilitation, ensuring signage, content, rider information and social media informed our riders about bus bridges (the team created a viral reel to reach FanimeCon attendees!)
4. Groundbreaking for the 101/25 project, working closely with local community stakeholders to host a successful event
5. Transit Speed and Reliability, holding seven pop up events to better understand how the community pays their fares
6. Tamien Housing Tour, showing potential tenants low-income housing options that will be offered as part of VTA’s Tamien Transit Oriented Development project to highlight Affordable Housing Month
7. Eastridge to BART Regional Connector, hosting a “Day of the Child” on the last day of April, with an ice cream celebration for Spanish speaking children and residents
8. Bike to Everywhere month, supporting cyclists and folks on two wheels at an event in partnership with Silicon Valley Bike Coalition
9. Light Rail Customer Satisfaction Survey, receiving over 600 responses to support light rail planning efforts
10. Homeless Response efforts, working to execute a memorandum of understanding with the City of San Jose to better collaborate on cleanliness, blight and helping unhoused residents find service
11. Keep Santa Clara Valley Beautiful, supporting this ongoing series of clean-up efforts in our county

Learn more about the VTA Community Outreach and Public Engagement efforts.