In Portland they 'put a bird on it'. In San Jose let's 'put a corporate logo on it.'

Early morning crew removes
the HP Pavilion sign from
the new SAP Center @ San Jose

This week work crews have been busy taking down the last remnants of the HP Pavilion era and began putting up new signage that will highlight the SAP Center at San Jose. All this week and last, arena management has been cleaning house, inside and out. Crews have been cleaning the shiny steel exterior and painting the white lattice work on the building corners. Inside the arena Shark management has been cleaning house as well (see the Silicon Valley Business Journal's Lauren Hepler series of articles on the changes), one of which was installing a new Chief Operating Officer. Interestingly enough the majority owner of the San Jose Sharks franchise, Hasso Plattner, is a co-founder of SAP.

SAP signed the five year deal valued at $8.4 million or $1.7 million per year with the proceeds being split up equally between the team and the City of San Jose. To put this in comparison the deal on the new Forty-Niner stadium in Santa Clara is valued at $220 million for 20 years (third largest deal ever) and the deal for ATT ballpark is valued at $50 million for 24 years. Yahoo also just signed signed a 10 year deal that will make that company the "exclusive online sports content, social networking, and photo and video sharing partner" for the  Forty-Niners.

In a post on his blog, San Jose City Council member Sam Liccardo highlighted a recent independent study which showed that bring the Oakland A's to the city would benefit downtown business by about $83 million annually. Additionally the sale of the future ballpark's naming rights would also bring additional and much needed cash to the city. I'm not sure how naming rights funnel into city coffers. Do they get diluted into the city's general fund? Does it go for maintenance of the arena, or other city assets, such as downtown museums or parks?

But given that the naming rights game is somewhat new (except in the St. Louis area) and limited to mostly sports facilities how else could an innovative city such as San Jose expand the concept. In Japan they even extended it to the teams themselves such as the Seibu (Department Store) Lions which play in the Seibu Dome, the Nippon Ham (meat products) Fighters, and Yakult (Yogurt) Swallows baseball teams. I'll discuss more in my next post but until then; "put a bird on it".

Silver Creek High School cyclist killed this morning on Capitol Expressway.

RIP: Silver Creek High School
student killed
photo: dbking

Sad news this morning on the streets of San Jose. An unidentified Silver Creek High School student died at a local hospital after suffering injuries from a collision with a car while riding across Capitol Expressway in East San Jose. The crash site is two blocks from the high school and just over a quarter mile from the 101 Freeway.

Silver Creek High School Principal Adolfo Laguna in this morning's San Jose Mercury News, stated "the (student's) death is a poignant reminder of how careful motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists have to be around the school area, particularly during rush hour. We want our students to be safe."

Dangerous By Design

Yes this student's tragic death is a poignant reminder; but asking motorists, pedestrians and bicyclist to be careful as a preventive measure against these types of incidents is completely wishful thinking. This intersection is dangerous by design.

Here are some reasons that make this intersection dangerous for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

The speed limit is 45 miles per hour but given that the the proximity to the 101 freeway entrance, speeds typically can reach over 60 miles per hour.

San Jose City Council member Pierluigi Oliverio has been championing 15 mph speed limits near schools but he is limited by California state law to only two lane streets, not 10 lane expressways.  This expressway also known as" Capitol Raceway" is notorious for impromptu races among race tuned autos.

The intersection was designed to reduce congestion by increasing the speed at which autos can negotiate turns. As you can see in this photo (Google Maps), the intersections uses large radii turns creating a triangular area to place the traffic signal. This design to increase the speed of right turning cars is a safety risk to cyclists and pedestrians.

Given San Jose suburban development pattern this expressway channels a high volume of traffic to the freeway during rush hour, bringing large volumes of traffic and young students together in a dangerous mix. The school, with almost 2,500 students also creates its own commuter congestion with parents rushing to bring their students to school before heading on the freeway to go to work.

Crossing Capital Expressway subjects student, cyclists, pedestrians, and the elderly to a 200 foot crossing with no refuge or rest area in the middle of the intersection.

I am always amazed that we have been lead to believe that the suburbs are by design safe than cities. It is evident in this Wall Street Journal Blog post titled "Is Generation Y a "Game Changer" for housing?"   The article quotes a financial services consultant who recently bought a 2,500-square-foot house in south San Francisco. The 23-year old single woman mentioned that she anticipates moving to the suburbs later in life, stating, "In my 20s, I definitely want to live downtown; I like the whole high-rise, in-the-city feel,” she said. “But, definitely when I have children, I want to live in a single-family home. It’s easier for parking, transportation and it’s safer to live in the suburbs away from the city."

The community should use this tragic incident as a starting point to do something about the lack of safety so close to their children's school.

A side note: When I went to the Google aerial photo of the school a counted 9 bikes (out of a student population of 2,500) in one bike parking location; and I'm not surprised.

Update (San Jose Mercury News): The bicyclist, believed to be 16 years old, was traveling east along East Capitol Expressway around 7:35 a.m. when a white Ford F-150 pick-up going northbound on Silver Creek Road collided with him, Officer Albert Morales said. Emergency personnel performed CPR at the scene and took the injured boy to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m.

What goes up must come down or have the chickens finally coming home to roost?

For curses are like arrows

San Jose Mayor
Louis S. Solari
July 1958 - June 1960

shot upright, which falling
down light on the suters
[shooters] head.

The Lamentable and True Tragedy of Arden of Feversham - 1592

Today's Roadshow column in the San Jose Mercury News led with the headline: "San Jose pothole blamed on Reed, Brown, and Pruius drivers". Well, for those of you from out of state, Reed is San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, and Brown is California Governor Jerry Brown.

San Jose resident Joe Coughlin writes to Mr. Roadshow Gary Richards:

"Mayor Chuck Reed should be ashamed of the job he is doing regarding road repair. And we all ought to be embarrassed. We are not only the worst in California, we are the worst in the NATION."

I find this readers rant somewhat timely given that the evening before I attended the city's Planning Commission meeting. On the agenda was a study session to review the city's capital budget five-year plan. One set of figures that shocked me a bit (and after seeing these numbers for a few years I don't get shocked that easily) was the total infrastructure backlog reported at $909 million. Given that this year the city budget is $2.6 billion about 35% of the cities annual budget is represented by infrastructure backlog. Of the cities $909 million in infrastructure backlog $460 million is for transportation backlog, or just over 50%. Of that $460 million, $303 million is needed just to maintain the roadways back to normal levels.

But back to Mr. Coughlin's point. Who do we blame? Do we blame Mayor Chuck Reed, Governor Jerry Brown, or those

Population estimates used to
sell large infrastructure building progam
 in San Jose in the early 60's

high and mighty, wimpy green Prius owners. Well I have a new spin on their conundrum. Mr. Coughlin the next time you go to city hall to blame Mayor Reed; as you enter the elevator to the second floor council chamber gallery, look to your left on the wall. There you will see pictures and drawings, of most of the cites mayors going all the way back to the early days. Look carefully at those mayors from about 1945 to 1973; names such as Doerr, Solari (pictured above), Moore, Welch, Pace, and others. While were at it, let's also include A. P. (Dutch) Hamann, the city Manager from 1950 to 1969, a huge player in San Jose's expansionary history.



These mayors, and many other post-war U.S. mayors set us up with a new blueprint for the design of cities that pushed cities and their boundaries outward in a rush to annex tax generating development. In those days, it appeared that as soon as a new development was built, Dutch Hamann was out to annex it; One example routinely given is the Valley Fair shopping center. Leonard McKay told it so well in a series of two blog posts in 2006. (Dutch Hamann Part I and Part II)



Photo: wikipedia (San Jose)

 

"At that time, a sales tax was a major generator of revenue, and with the council’s approval, a program of strip annexation was set in motion.  Hamann determined where future shopping centers were likely to be located, and then the city proceeded to annex a narrow band of land out along each major road and intersection, thus ensuring that the sales tax revenue would come to San Jose. 

Along Stevens Creek Road to Cupertino, Bascom Boulevard, North First Street, and Monterey Highway to Morgan Hill—each and every area was annexed.  Prior to Hamann’s tenure—more than 100 years—only 46 annexations occurred.  During his 19 years, 1,377 annexations were effected"




If you've ever looked a map of Paris it looks by its very shape, its very design that it would be easy and relatively inexpensive to administer and maintain. Compare that with a map of San Jose (shown above) and

you ask yourself, how do you effectively police a city like this, maintain the roadway system or run an efficient library or parks system? In many areas of the city that fully enclose unincorporated county areas it even becomes more puzzling. Now try to figure out how you administer an effective police force, sanitary sewer systems, roads, streetlights, schools and water systems.

Yes it is extremely complicated. Just ask anyone living in the Burbank section of San Jose, an area where most neighbhors don't know who administers (county or city) parts of their own neighborhood.

Actually the layout of the city used to be worse. That is why 40 years ago the California State legislature created a regulatory vehicle to control crazy city boundaries that were confusing even city officials. Known by their acronym LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission), these independent regulatory commissions where created to control the boundaries of cities and most special districts (such as utility, school, sewage, vector, etc.). But more on that in a later post.

Given this willy nilly style of development and city leaders gross over-projection of population growth (see graph) infrastructure building (construction) was the real growth industry when an Apple in this valley was still something you ate. Even though California, the Bay Area, and San Jose grew at astonishing rates in the 1960's, 70's, and 80's their projections show that in 2010 San Jose's population would be at 1.8 million residents. In 2010 the city population was only 952,612 per the United States Census Bureau, or just over half what was projected.

To accommodate this overly inflated growth rate, the city built new sewer systems and water treatment plants (the current plant in Alviso), realigned roadways (Nagle Taylor, Julian and the Alameda), widened streets to nowhere (Park Ave., Minnesota at Meridian), built new railway under crossings (Park Ave. near Diridon), and new satellite libraries (West Valley branch etc. which was rebuilt several years ago), and fire stations.

What these leaders failed to realize was that the future money needed to maintain all this growing infrastructure base could not be recouped by the low yields (nowadays we call this sustainable) on a tax base reflected in the form of bedroom communities and urban sprawl. Many of these projects would not pencil out, or pay for themselves; and this was before Californians (not Mayor Reed or Jerry Brown) decided to severely restrict cities ability to maintain it all by passing Proposition 13 in 1978. So since 1978 cities have had to become very creative to tax these essentials of suburban living; investments in sewer pipe, pumping stations, wide Almaden neighborhood streets, or cul-du-sac living of the Evergreen area.

These leaders threw away the old tried and traditional rules of building cites and went on to build over 4,000 miles of municipal roadways. Now the potholes are coming home to roost (oh well I tried), or the archers arrow has returned to earth only to strike the shooter in the head.

As I have mentioned in many a post we, and many other California cities were built in the postwar era without a thought to how we would maintain these roadways. We have $303 million in unfunded road backlogs. We need around $100 million per year to maintain the system. We have no room in the general budget for repair. What funds are used to fix potholes, at about $16 million per year come from federal and state sources. We are now starting to receive the benefits of the recently enacted $10 vehicle fee but these amounts are nowhere near enough to cover the repair and maintenance of our roadways. State and federal gasoline taxes do not directly finance our maintenance program. Those funds are for building and maintaining  the federal and state highway systems.

Yes we do have a huge pothole problem, a problem that many has grown immensely in the last few years. However until residents and motorist realize how complex, how expensive, and how poorly funded our roadway system is, the problem is just not going to get any better anytime soon.

The chickens have come home to roost.



A solar system in search of a sun - decentralization has its costs




photo:Destination:Freedom

 Most readers of this blog may know of my involvement with trains. While a student in Japan, I had used local trolleys, commuter and express trains, and even have considerable experience with their "bullet trains". Travelling throughout Europe, I have travelled to and within thirteen countries by train.

Here locally in addition to the Caltrain and Bart systems, I have also used long distance Amtrak trains as well. I have chaired  a Caltrain committee and have participated in the process of developing station (rail) plans. Recently while browsing Caltrans (Caltrans administers Amtrak California) I came across the draft of a new California State Rail Plan. I was surprised to learn that the public open house meetings to comment on the plan was taking place only during the month February of this year.

When I check the locations of the meetings these are the cities that were listed:

• Sacramento
• Oakland
• San Diego
• Los Angeles
• Fresno
• and an online webinar

Except for Sacramento (the state capitol) they were all the home of a Caltrans district offices and the venues were either in Caltrans offices and state office buildings.

This got me to thinking. If San Jose is the third largest city in California, the future home of the "largest train station west of the Mississippi" (during station plan meetings city planning staff often repeated this phrase), and a future high speed rail station,  how did we get passed up by places like Fresno, Sacramento, and Oakland?

One reason comes to mind. When it comes to San Jose, and especially downtown San Jose; the city is a government, corporate, agency, and non-profit leadership backwater. Every city on the list for the rail plan open house is the home to some type of California state district office. San Jose has none. It was only recently that the city even got additional representation on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC is the regional transportation funding authority) board to match the growth in population.

To develop a more vibrant downtown, yes you need to have housing, jobs, retail, and entertainment. But to truly be a central part of a major city you need to be a nexus, a hub, a network; were leaders, administrators, legislators, media outlets, judicial bodies, doers, thinkers, creators, and innovators all come together; face to face; and not just on Skype.

If you look at the downtown area it is absent many of these institutions. Yes the city brought back city hall to downtown San Jose after a long absence, and yes San Jose State University never left, and yes thanks to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's muscle the U.S. Patent office has relocated for the first time an office outside of Washington D.C.; although in a much vacant city hall.

Absent are governmental organizations that in most cities are located in a downtown core. Santa Clara County headquarters left downtown long ago, as did the city's largest newspaper, and the NBC affiliate vacated several years ago. The state office building is a depressing two-story concrete bunker that houses only a few offices. Likewise the federal building is only five stories hosting mainly a immigration office. Above the city level, no elected official has an office in downtown San Jose (see map below).

Likewise agencies, such as the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority are located in the sprawling suburbs to the south. The San Jose Water District and VTA (both the regional transportation authority and transit provider) moved out to the northern suburbs. Many nonprofit institutions like the United Way and YMCA, and even the Silicon Valley Leadership Group also mange their affairs from outside the downtown area.

If San Jose truly wants to be "the Capitol of the Silicon Valley", to make their city a more vibrant, lively, and more enriching city it should start to woo these institutions, these leaders to this corner of the world. The city would benefit greatly to have a central place for leaders and ideas.

In my train example, if more locals could have provided input to a rail plan as residents of a city with the largest train station west of the Mississippi, we could be on our path to a true transportation hub as well as a modern technological center.

Partial listing of goverment and agency offices in the Bay Area


View San Jose Administration in a larger map

Downtown San Jose builds new parklets in the Central Business District

Work has begun on a new
downtown parket.

This morning I had a chance to witness a new parklet being constructed on San Fernando St. in downtown San Jose in front of Azucar restaurant.  The expanded sidewalk will allow for outdoor dining just in time for Spring.

What's nice is that dinners will not be subject to car fumes and noise due to the planed bike corridor on San Fernando from Diridon Station to city hall.

Show some thanks to your elected city officials and the Department of Transportation for the improvements being made downtown, by stopping to dine downtown. Council member Sam Liccardo's district includes the downtown area.


View Larger Map

San Jose: Road and trail improvement projects in process.



Shopping on the Avenue (Willow Glen)
photo: WGBA website

 As chair of the city of San Jose's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) I recently signed a letter of support for funding for various transportation projects in the city.  The city will be submitting grant requests for the projects listed below. Funding is through the One Bay Area Grant Program (OBAG) administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). 

OBAG is investing roughly $800 million over a four-year period (FYs 2012-13 through 2015-16), funded through continuations of the current surface transportation legislation currently known as SAFETEA (the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act).
.
OBAG will better integrate the Bay Area region’s federal transportation program with California’s climate law (Senate Bill 375, Steinberg, 2008) and the Sustainable Communities Strategy.

Please note the city will apply for these grants individually and these grants are on a competitive basis with other Bay Area (the nine-county region) cities, counties, and agencies. These projects are in the very initial, or conceptual stages (with the exception of the first project, the Alameda "Beautiful Way").  These grants will help fund the planning and design phases of the projects. Most of the projects have not been put before the public in community meetings. That will be included in a later phase.

I have included at map at the bottom to illustrate approximate citywide locations where possible.

• The Alameda “Beautiful Way” Grand Boulevard Phase 2
• St. John Complete Street Corridor:  HP Pavilion to St. James LRT Station
• Cottle Light Rail – Urban Village Connection
• East San Jose Bike/Ped/Transit Connections
• Penitencia Creek Trail Connection to Berryessa BART Station
• San José PDA Pedestrian Oriented Traffic Safety Signals Program
• San José PDA Ped/Bike/Transit Safety Lighting Program
• Jackson Complete Streets
• Autumn Parkway Extension – Diridon Transit Center Area
• Almaden/Vine “Livable Streets” Couplet Conversion
• Willow Street/Bird Avenue “Road Diet” and Three Creeks Trail Connection
• Oakridge/Almaden Urban Village Trail & Transit Connections

View OBAG - One Bay Area Grant Request in a larger map

Book Review: Boomerang by Michael Lewis

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was classic Michael Lewis in that he deconstructs quantitatively driven scenarios and converts them into easily digestible stories albeit, with interesting characters. To imply that the author is an economic academic, rather than the journalist that he is, is stretching one's expectations.

Throughout the book he use the metaphor of what individuals or countries do with a pile of cash or credit once the lights have been turn off (left to our own private desires). In the case of the United States, we all went out and bought bigger houses. But the bigger picture he spins in the last chapter is that we wanted it all (until we were "too fat to fly"), we had grown used to having an economy of abundance that we decided to continue with the delusion even though it would have long term consequences. As he states in his last chapter:

"...And as he (Vallejo's new City Manager, Phil Batchelor) talked about the bankrupting of Vallejo I realized that I had heard this story before, or a private-sector version of it. The people who had power in the society, and were charged with saving it from itself, had instead bled the society to death. The problem with the police officers and firefighters isn't a public-sector problem; it isn't a problem with government; it's a problem with the entire society. It's what happened on Wall Street in the run-up to the subprime crisis. It's a problem of people taking what they can, just because they can, without regard to the larger social consequences. It's not just a coincidence that the debts of cities and states spun out of control at the same time as the debts of individual Americans. Alone in a dark room with a pile of money, Americans knew exactly what they wanted to do, from the top of society to the bottom. They'd been conditioned to grab as much as they could, without thinking about the long term consequences. Afterward, the people on Wall Street would privately bemoan the low morals of the America people who walked away from their subprime loans, and the American people would express outrage at the Wall Street people who paid themselves a fortune to design the bad loans..."

The last chapter also touches on the fiscal problems of San Jose, a city with the second highest level of per capita incomes in the U.S., after New York City, and yet, "is not all that far from being bankrupt".

All in all a good entertaining read which includes a globetrotting narrative into the stories and background of the European debt crisis. But if you remember to tell yourself that this is no financial thesis you enjoy the book as I did.



View all my reviews

Local officials celebrate phase I completion of Capitol Expressway improvements

L to R SC County Supervisor Dave Cortese,
CA Assemblymember Nora Campos,
San Jose City Council Xavier Campos and
Rose Herrera and VTA GM
Michael Burns

Ribbon cutting on the Expressway

City, County, State, and VTA officials celebrated the first phase completion of the Capital Expressway Corridor Project on Friday at the intersection of Tully Rd. and Capitol Expressway.The project includes new sidewalks, street lighting and a landscaping buffer between the sidewalk and the roadway from Capitol Avenue to Quimby Road. Originally during this phase, the reconstruction of the Eastridge Transit Center was to take place. These improvements will also support subsequent rapid transit (RT) shelters and amenities at Story and Ocala as part of the future Santa Clara-Alum Rock RT service along Capitol Expressway.

Pedestrian Pathway along
Capitol

Phase II will extend light rail from the existing Alum Rock Light Rail Station to the Eastridge Transit Center. Light rail will operate primarily in the center of Capitol Expressway with elevated track structures crossing Capitol Avenue, Story Road, and Tully Road. The Eastridge extension will include three stations: Story Road, Ocala Avenue and Eastridge.

The reconstruction of the Eastridge Transit Center should take place this winter, however the funding for the light rail extension is still unclear. When fully completed light rail and bus rapid transit will all converge on this main transit center, essentially extending the Alum Rock Station down to Eastridge.

Project Costs
The cost estimate for Phase I Pedestrian and Bus Improvements including Eastridge Transit Center is $60 million, which includes State funding and is included in the approved VTA FY 2012-13 budget. The total cost estimate of Phase II, the extension of light rail from the Alum Rock Transit Center to Eastridge Transit Center is $310 million. This project is included in the 2000 Measure A Transit Improvements Program.

“In addition to the access and safety benefits, these pedestrian and bus improvements are designed to integrate with future bus rapid transit system along Alum Rock Avenue and Santa Clara Street, and eventually light rail,” said Xavier Campos, San Jose City Council member and VTA Board member. “In just a few short years, Capitol Expressway will be a shining example of a modern travel corridor that embraces the use of all forms of transportation which is crucial as we move towards higher gas prices and increased roadway congestion.”

“Since being elected four years ago, I’ve advocated for changes to Capitol Expressway to make it safe for all of us – bicyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and drivers,” says Rose Herrera, City of San Jose Councilmember and VTA Board member, “Everyone benefits from these critical safety improvements that are paving the way for future light rail service.”

Expect to see construction start soon on a new, improvement Eastridge Transit Center.

Elected Official Jurisdictional Representation
City of San Jose (District Map)
District 5 - Xavier Campos
District 8 - Rose Herrera

County of Santa Clara
Supervisor George Shirokawa (District Map)
Supervisor Dave Cortese  (District Map)

State of California
23rd Assembly District - Nora Campos (District Map)

Federal - US Congress
US Congress - CA 16 - Zoe Lofgren

STIP (State Transportation Improvement Program) funding memo from the CTC (California Transportation Commision) Carl Guardino - CTC member and President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Hedding Street to get new asphalt, new bike lanes, and new trees

Our City Forest

I had a nice chat yesterday with Rhonda Berry from Our City Forest yesterday on 'the Ave.' in Willow Glen (thanks to Top Nosh). Rhonda has been doing amazing work as founder, president, and CEO since they started about 20 years ago.

As part of the Hedding Street improvements that are currently being worked on, Our City Forest will be planting trees along the street from the county administration offices in the west to around 13th Street to the East. These trees will benefit the neighborhood well by cleaning the air of particulate matter that is a byproduct of all the traffic as well as reducing summer temperatures.

Dutch Diplomats share their cycling secrets with San Jose this month

ThinkBike coming to San Jose

In an upcoming pair of workshops Dutch diplomats will share their secrets with locals. The Netherlands U.S. Embassy works with cities throughout the U.S. to share best practices and develop environmental friendly transportation networks through the ThinkBike initiative. On October 22 and 23, the City of San Jose will host the ThinkBike workshop San Jose.

The two-day workshop brings Dutch bicycling experts with local planners, engineers, transportation experts and advocates to stregthen bicycling in San Jose.

Join the opening session on Monday morning to learn about Dutch bicycling concepts and San Jose's bicycle goals and see the proposals developed during the workshop at the closing session on Tuesday evening.

This event is sponsored by the City of San Jose, the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition,
and the Dutch Cycling Embassy.

Admission is FREE but advanced registration is required.

Register Now!

ThinkBike San Jose Opening Session
October 22, 2012 9:00-10:30 am
San Jose City Hall Wing
Rooms 118/119/120
200 East Santa Clara St.

ThinkBike San Jose Opening Session
October 22, 2012 9:00-10:30 am
San Jose City Hall Wing
Rooms 118/119/120
200 East Santa Clara St.

ThinkBike Workshops Bring a Touch of Dutch Cycling to Pittsburgh Streets

The following service changes will take effect on Monday, October 1, 2012. Please note the inclusion of the 323 line from Downtown San Jose to DeAnza College. This service will be similar to the 522 service along El Camino Real as "Rapid" or "Express Bus"

Line 10 - Free Airport Flyer: Santa Clara Transit Center-Metro Airport LRT Station via San Jose International Airport
Minor weekday schedule changes will be made.

Line 22- Palo Alto Transit Center to Eastridge Transit Center via El Camino
Minor weekday and weekend schedule changes will be made.

Line 23- DeAnza College to Alum Rock Transit Center via Stevens Creek Boulevard
Weekday service will be rescheduled to provide 12 minute service (in conjunction with the introduction of new Limited stop Line 323).  Minor weekend schedule changes will also be made.

Line 37- West Valley College to Capitol Light Rail Station
Minor weekday schedule changes will be made in the westbound direction.

Line 40- Foothill College to LAvenida & Shoreline
In the northbound direction, the San Antonio Transit Center timepoint will be moved to Showers & El Camino.  Minor weekday and weekend northbound schedule changes will be made to reflect that change.

Line 48- Los Gatos Civic Center to Winchester Transit Center via Winchester Boulevard
Major weekday and minor weekend schedule changes will be made.

Line 49- Los Gatos Civic Center to Winchester Transit Center via Los Gatos Boulevard
Major weekday and minor weekend schedule changes will be made.

Line 57- West Valley College to Great America via Quito Rd
Minor weekday and weekend schedule changes will be made.

Line 58- West Valley College to Alviso via Fruitvale
Minor weekday schedule changes will be made.

Line 63 – Almaden Expwy. & Camden to San Jose State University
Minor weekday schedule changes will be made.

Line 65- Kooser & Meridian to Downtown San Jose
Minor schedule changes will be made. 

Line 104- Penitencia Creek Transit Center to Palo Alto
The 6:47 a.m. westbound trip will leave Penitencia Creek Transit Center at 6:39 a.m. due to increased traffic congestion. Minor schedule changes will be made to the other morning and afternoon trips.

Line 168- Gilroy Transit Center to San Jose Diridon Transit Center
The 5:42 a.m. northbound trip will be moved 6 minutes earlier due to passenger requests.

Line 181- Fremont BART to San Jose Diridon Transit Center
Minor Saturday schedule changes will be made to improve connections with BART.

Line 323- Downtown San Jose to De Anza College
This new Limited Stop line will operate between De Anza College and downtown San Jose via San Carlos St. and Stevens Creek Blvd. It will remain on Stevens Creek Blvd. between Bascom Ave. and Winchester Blvd. and not serve the Valley Fair Transit Center. The last eastbound stop will be 1st & St. John, and the first westbound stop will be 2nd & St. John. Line 323 will operate every 15 minutes from approximately 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays. (See map), which also includes a list of stops.

Line 201- Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH)
Minor schedule changes will be made to coordinate with the new Caltrain and ACE schedules.

NEW PAPER SCHEDULES

On October 1st, new schedules can be found on board VTA buses and light rail as well as:

• VTA Downtown Customer Service Center, located at 2 N. First Street, Suite 100, at Santa Clara Street, San Jose.
  The hours are Mon. - Fri., 9 am to 6 pm
• VTA Marketing and Customer Service, located at 3331 N. First Street at River Oaks, San Jose. The location is in the lobby of Building B.
  The hours are Mon. - Fri., 8 am to 4:30 pm 
• Email us at schedules@vta.org to have them mailed to you.

For more information, please contact VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300, TTY (408) 321-2330

VTA Introducing New Limited Stop Line 323 on October 1st

Frequent service and fewer stops

September 24, 2012

San Jose, CA – On October 1st, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will launch a new bus line that will provide faster and more direct service between De Anza College and Downtown San Jose – introducing Limited Stop 323! Currently, VTA operates Line 23 in this corridor which is the third most used bus service by VTA commuters, carrying 9,800 daily riders or about 10% of VTA’s overall bus ridership. New Limited Stop 323 will supplement Line 23 on weekdays which will relieve the over-crowding experienced by Line 23 passengers. Line 23 will return to a 12-minute service frequency while Line 323 will operate every 15 minutes on weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.  

There will be 28 stops that will be spaced out about one-half to a mile apart compared to the 94 total stops on Line 23. Line 323 will continue down Stevens Creek Boulevard to San Carlos instead of detouring to the Valley Fair Transit Center on Forest Avenue.  There will be a 323 bus stop on Stevens Creek conveniently located for easy access of the Valley Fair and Santana Row shopping centers. In addition, the De Anza College stop will be located on the southbound side of Stelling, adjacent to the De Anza parking lot.

With Line 323, VTA is laying the groundwork to accommodate the recent surge of Santa Clara County residents using public transportation.  Line 323 is the first step towards building an effective Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along San Carlos Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard. The benefits of BRT include dedicated lanes that bypass automobile congestion, 10-minute (or faster) frequencies, new stations and vehicles, and faster boarding options. VTA’s Stevens Creek BRT Project is in the planning and early design phase with a delivery date of 2017.

In addition to the launch of Line 323, quarterly service changes will feature bus schedule modifications to further improve system on-time performance, reliability and passenger connectivity to other public transit systems. All service change information can be found on the VTA website at www.vta.org/nbs or by calling VTA’s Customer Service Center.  VTA's Trip Planner powered by Google will have the latest schedule information when the service change takes place on Monday, October 1, 2012. 

For more information on service changes or for a customized trip plan, contact VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300; for the hearing impaired only call (408) 321-2330. You can also log onto www.vta.org and sign-up to receive VTA email updates. Find VTA on Facebook at “SCVTA”, Twitter at “SantaclaraVTA”, and YouTube at www.youtube.com/scvta.

Hedding St. maintenance project underway

Construction signs are out on 10th and
Hedding Streets.

The San Jose City voted unanimously on August 21, 2012 to add bike lanes to Hedding Street between the Guadalupe River Trail and Seventeenth Street. This bicycle infrastructure project was to piggyback on the urgently needed maintenance project for that stretch of road. While riding along Hedding yesterday morning I got a shot of some of the work in progress. Actually the contractor started a couple of weeks ago. I am not sure of the estimated completion date.

Related posts:

• Hedding St. bikeway to be discussed
• San Jose City Council Agenda - 6. Transportation, August 21, 2012 
• San Jose City Council votes to create a key east/west corridor on Hedding St.

View Proposed Hedding St. Bike Lane Addition in a larger map

Bikes collide on a downtown street; one injured.

First responder to the incident
scene comforts a young cyclist.

In what has become on almost weekly occurrence, I came upon a traffic incident; although this time I was not the first responder. Last night at approximately 9:45 pm two cyclists collided on the walkway at Paseo San Antonio and 1st. St. (on the south east corner of the Fairmont Hotel).

The incident involved a young man riding eastbound on Paseo San Antonio and a young woman riding southbound on the sidewalk on 1st. St. Now here is the sad but strange part of this unfortunate event;

• Both riders were riding at night without lights.
• Both riders were not wearing helmets.
• Both riders were wearing earbuds and listening to music when they collided
• One rider's bike has no brakes.

The woman in the picture was in severe pain and the male rider mentioned that she might have hit her head. The male rider did not appear to have any injuries.

San Jose City Council - At a Glance



San Jose Mayor
Chuck Reed

 Mayor Chuck Reed
200 East Santa Clara Street San José, CA 95113
(408) 535-4800 fax (408) 292-6422
mayoremail@sanjoseca.gov

Staff

                 Chief of Staff

		Peter J. Furman Pete Furman was born in Pennsylvania and raised in many parts of the country due to his parents’ job commitments. Pete brings a wealth of management experience and a unique variety of skills honed through both his working career and his personal development. Read the Entire Biography
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		Senior Policy Advisor, Budget & Finance
		Armando Gomez Armando Gomez was born in San José and raised in nearby Milpitas. In November 2000, he joined Chuck Reed’s District 4 Council office (first as a Policy Analyst, then as Chief of Staff) and has served as a key advisor on budget, transportation, and land use issues. Read the Entire Biography
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		Senior Policy Advisor / Public Information Officer
		Michelle McGurk Michelle McGurk was born in Vallejo and raised in San Pablo. She brings twenty years of experience in media relations, journalism and public policy to the role of Public Information Officer. Read the Entire Biography
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		Senior Policy Advisor, Economic Development
		Ru Weerakoon Ru Weerakoon was born and raised in Sri Lanka. Moving to San José in 1983, Ru joined the San José Redevelopment Agency in 1989. Read the Entire Biography
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		Senior Policy Advisor, Government Affairs
		Jeff Janssen Jeff Janssen was born in San Mateo and raised in Santa Clara. He became interested in politics in 1978 when he first heard former Governor Jerry Brown speak at De Anza College. Read the Entire Biography
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		Senior Policy Advisor, Public Safety
		Jose Salcido Jose Salcido is a San José native and longtime Willow Glen resident of over 25 years. He brings more than 32 years of experience from law enforcement and community service to the Mayor’s staff. Read the Entire Biography
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		Policy Analysts
		Christina Fernandez David Low Joyce Chen Kristina Peralta Richard Hong Sara Wright
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		Assistants
		Celia Miller Cindy Escobar Kimberly Oliver Norma Gutierrez Phuong Le
		Back to Top

San Jose City Council

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Council District 1 Pete Constant

Councilmember Pete Constant
District 1

(Detailed Web Page)

 

 

Staff

Meet the District 1 Staff

Rhovylynn Antonio, Chief of Staff
Rhovylynn.Antonio@sanjoseca.gov

Shane Patrick Connolly, Budget & Finance Director
shane.connolly@sanjoseca.gov

Jerad Ferguson, Council Aide
jerad.ferguson@sanjoseca.gov

        Chelsey Seagraves, Council Aide
         chelsey.seagraves@sanjoseca.gov
         Transportation & Environment Committee

Transportation Related Committees

None

District 1 (Map)

  District 1 Neighborhood Associations (Map)

Contains the Blackford and Winchester Strong Neighborhoods Areas

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Council District 2 - Ash Kalra

Councilmember Ash Kalra
District 2

(Detailed Web Page)

Bio
Councilmember Ash Kalra earned his seat on the San José City Council in the November 4, 2008 election.Council District 2, which is located in the Southern region of San José bordering Morgan Hill. D


Councilmember Kalra earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a law degree from Georgetown University. Ash is a Professor at Lincoln Law School of San José, where he teaches “Race and the Law,” and he previously was an instructor at San Jose State University. For 11 years, Ash Kalra worked as an attorney for the Santa Clara County Public Defender's Office representing indigent clients in Drug Court prior to being elected. He has been a resident of San José for over 30 years and is proud to be the first Oak Grove High School graduate on the San José City Council. Ash is the first Indian-American to be elected to the San José City Council.



Staff

Joseph Okpaku
District 2
Chief of Staff

Joseph Okpaku, Chief of Staff

joseph.okpaku@sanjoseca.go

408.535.4924

Stacie Shih, Community Outreach Director
408.535.4925
stacie.shih@sanjoseca.g

Steven Aponte, Policy Director
408.535.4923
steven.aponte@sanjoseca.gov

Kimberly Hernandez, Executive Assistant

408.535.4919

kimberly.hernandez@sanjoseca.gov

Katherine White, Policy Analyst

408.535.4902

katherine.white@sanjoseca.gov

 Transportation Related Committees

 San Jose Council Committees

• Co-chair Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan Update Task Force

 San Jose City Boards, Commissions, and Committees

• Co-chair Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan Update Task Force

 Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

• Valley Transportation Authority (VTA Board)
• Caltrain Board (VTA Representative) 
• Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Board 
• Serves on four committees
• Vice Chair Budget and Finance Committee
• Secretary - Executive Committee
•  
• Association of Bay Area Governments - Executive Board
• Santa Clara County Cities Association



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Councilmember Sam Liccardo
District 3

Council District 3 - Sam Liccardo
(Detailed Web Page)

District 3 - Downtown, Japantown, east to Diridon Station
Sam Liccardo is an avid cyclist both for recreation and transportation around his central San Jose city district. Sam is a supporter of the Amgen Tour of California and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. Many of Sam's constituents ride bicycles to downtown events, commute to work, or do not own cars (for personal or other reasons). The number of cyclists in his district has been growing. His districts also includes the planned Hedding Street Bicycle Improvements, the new bike lanes on 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, and Almaden, and the planned bicycle and pedestrian improvements on San Carlos and San Fernando Streets.

Staff

Regan Henninger, Chief of Staff

regan.henninger@sanjoseca.gov

Ruth Cueto, Council Assistant

 ruth.cueto@sanjoseca.gov

Fred Buzo, Council Assistant

 fred.buzo@sanjoseca.gov

Jennifer Kim Luc, Council Assistant

jennifer.kimluc@sanjoseca.gov

Rhonda Hadnot, Executive Assistant and Scheduler

rhonda.hadnot@sanjoseca.gov

San Jose Council Committees

• San Jose City Council Transportation and Environment Committee
• San Jose City Council Community and Economic Development Committee
• Co-chair Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan Update Task Force

 Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

Sam also holds leadership positions on several regional agencies, as:

• Cities Association of Santa Clara County (CASCC) - President
• Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) - Board Member
• Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) - Board Member and Past Chair
• Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) - Executive Board

District 3 (Map)

Neighborhoods

 13th St. NAC, Anne Darling, Berryessa CAC, Delmas Park NA/NAC, East Santa Clara Business Association, Five Wounds/Brookwood Terrace, Gardner Advisory Council, Goodyear-Mastic NA, Guadalupe-Washington NAC, Historic Hensley


His district includes bicycle retailers I-D, and Bicycle Express

Chairperson of the Council's Transportation and Environment Committee,

as the Vice Chair of the Community and Economic Development Committee and as

Co-chair of the Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan Update Task Force.  

Sam also holds leadership positions on several regional agencies, serving as the

Chairperson of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), as committee member of the

VTA's Transit Planning and Operations Committee, as

Board Member of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG),

the Capitol Corridor Rail Commission, and on the

Executive Committee of the Santa Clara County Cities Association

Election History



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Councilmember Kansen Chu
District 4



Council District 4 - Kansen Chu

(Detailed Web Page)

Staff

Stephani Fong, District Director

stephani.fong@sanjoseca.gov

Margie Espinoza, Executive Assistant
Margieespinosa @sanjoseca.gov

Sheila Ngo, Policy Analyst
Sheila.ngo@sanjoseca.gov

Rosa Santiago, Council Assistant
rosa.santiago@sanjoseca.gov

Anh Tran, Council Assistant 
Anh.tran.sanjoseca.gov

Committees 

San Jose City Boards, Commissions, and Committees

Airport Commission - Council Liaison 

Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

Association of Bay Area Governments - Executive Boardmember

League of California Cities - Boardmember

District 4 (Map)

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Councilmember Xavier Campos
District 5

 Council District 5 - Xavier Campos
(Detailed Web Page)

Staff

Josue Garcia, Chief of Staff
408.535.4948
josue.garcia@sanjoseca.gov

Kathy Tsukamoto, Executive Assistant and Scheduler
 408.535.4905
Kathy.Tsukamoto@sanjoseca.gov

Diego Barregan, Policy Analyst
 408.535.4949
diego.barragan@sanjoseca.gov

Joseph Sanchez, Policy Analyst, Communications
408.535.4943
joseph.sanchez@sanjoseca.gov

Committees

San Jose Council Committees

San Jose City Boards, Commisions, and Committees

Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

Other Boards

District 5 (Map)

Xavier's District is highly dependent on bicycles for basic transportation, mainly to get to and from work.

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Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio
District 6

 Council District 6 - Pierluigi Oliverio
(Detailed Web Page)

Staff

Denelle Fedor, Chief of Staff

(408) 535-4952 

 Denelle.Fedor@sanjoseca.gov

Melrose Cacal, Council Assistant

 (408) 535-4954

 Melrose.Cacal@sanjoseca.gov

Lara Tran, Council Assistant

 (408) 535-4957

 Lara.Tran@sanjoseca.gov

Frances Reyes, Council Assistant

(408) 535-4956

Frances.Reyes@sanjoseca.gov

Committees

San Jose Council Committees

San Jose City Boards, Commissions, and Committees

Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

Other Boards

Council Votes:

August 21,2012 Agenda Item Agenda - 6.1 Hedding and Ocala Bike Lane Projects Absent

News

Santana Row tweaks expansion plans, asks city for rezoning (San Jose Business Journal, August 7, 2012)

District 6 (Map)

Staff

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Councilmember Madison Nguyen
District 7

  Council District 7 - (Vice Mayor) Madison Nguyen
(Detailed Web Page)

Staff

Louansee Moua, Chief of Staff
 louansee.moua@sanjoseca.gov

Yen-Chi H. Nguyen, Executive Assistant
 Yenchi.nguyen@sanjoseca.gov

Noelle A. Vergara, Policy Analyst
noelle.vergara@sanjoseca.gov

Diego Inzunza, Community Outreach Coordinator

diego.inzunza@sanjoseca.gov

Committees

San Jose Council Committees

San Jose City Boards, Commissions, and Committees

Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

Other Boards

Council Votes

August 21,2012 Agenda Item Agenda - 6.1 Hedding and Ocala Bike Lane Projects Voted Yes (In favor)

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Councilmember Rose Herrera
District 8

Council District 8 - Rose Herrera
(Detailed Web Page)

Councilmember Herrera has been a supporter of cycling and cycling events in the city. She has participated in the Via Velo street closure event as well as the "Mayor's Ride" with the mayor of Dublin, Ireland

Staff

Mary Ann Groen, Chief of Staff
mary.groen@sanjoseca.gov

Shelly Opsal, Executive Administrative Assistant
shelly.opsal@

Aaron Quigley, Senior Policy Advisor
aaron.quigley@sanjoseca.gov

Angie Vazguez, Council Assistant
angie.vazquez@sanjoseca.gov

Committees

San Jose Council Committees

San Jose City Boards, Commisions, and Committees

Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

Other Boards

Council Votes
August 21,2012 Agenda Item Agenda - 6.1 Hedding and Ocala Bike Lane Projects Voted Yes (In favor)

District 8 (Map)

Demographics

Councilmember Donald Rocha
District 9

Council District 9 - Donald Rocha
(Detailed Web Page)

Staff

Kimberly Oliver, Executive Assistant Scheduler

kimberley.oliver@sanjoseca.gov

Peter Hamilton, Senior Policy Aide

peter.hamilton@sanjoseca.gov

Anne Grabowski- Policy Aide

anne.grabowski@sanjoseca.gov

Bradley Ruebusch, Policy Aide

bradley.ruebusch@sanjoseca.gov

Marina Melroe, Policy Aid

marina.melroe@sanjosecagove

 

TransportationRelated Committees

San Jose Council Committees

San Jose City Boards, Commissions, and Committees

Regional and Agency Committees (Includes Transportation)

Other Boards

Council Votes

August 21,2012 Agenda Item Agenda - 6.1 Hedding and Ocala Bike Lane Projects Voted Yes (In favor)

News

District 9 (Map)

Demographics

Councilmember Nancy Pyle
District 10

Council District 10 - Nancy Pyle
(Detailed Web Page)

Nancy Pyle Terms Out. This is the Election of her successor
Election: June 5, 2010

Staff

Kathleen Sutherfield, Chief of Staff
Kathy.Sutherland@sanjoseca.gov

Linda Alexander
Linda.Alexander@sanjoseca.gov

Laura Cowen
Laura.Cowan@sanjoseca.gov

Nitilia Patel
Nitila.Patel@sanjoseca.gov

Tom Johnson

Frank Mcglaughlin

District 10 (Map)

Demographics

 votes 10.62%