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

This is South Carolina but it could be anywhere USA

Thanks to Chuck Mahron over at Strong Towns with a post of this video. The original productions has been overdubbed into so many permutations, but this is the first I've seen having to do with transportation planners. Enjoy.

Could New York soon become safer than San Jose?

Interesting article posted by the Associated Press yesterday afternoon on the significant decrease in the homicide rate in New York during the Bloomberg administration. Last year the city experienced 418 homicides, the lowest number since reliable statistics have been kept since 1963. In 1990, New York City had an all-time high of 2,245 killings.

A couple of other interesting statistics from the article are that each year on average 33 people each down die due to homicides (over 12,000 annually) and 40 Americans commit suicides with a gun each day (over 14,500 annually).

Using quotes from the article for New York and Chicago and data from a homicide map that was produced by the Bay Area News Group I came up with some statistics of homicides per 100,000 residents

All homicides are for 2012. Population figures are from Wikipedia.

San Jose
46/958956=.000048               4.8 per 100,000 residents

New York

418/8224910=.000051           5.1 per 100,000 residents

Chicago
487/2707120=.00018            18.0 per 100,000 residents


View 2012 San Jose homicide map in a larger map

Tragedy revisited

Congresswoman Jackie Speir (l)
and I  in her DC office.

OK, here is another weird six degrees of separation story. 

With all of the tragedy experienced in Connecticut, Senator Diane Feinstein has been in the news recently. Her repeated attempts at a ban on assault weapons has taken on a renewed vigor in the wake of the senseless murder of children in Sandy Hook

It goes back to November - December of 1978, I was living in Napili, north of Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii. At the time I was working at the Sheraton Hotel at Black Rock in Kaanapali, while taking a brief break from college. As I went to work at the restaurant one evening I heard the news about the Jonestown massacre where Leo Ryan was shot to death and his 28 year-old congressional staffer Jackie Speier was shot five times and left for dead in the Guyanese jungle.

Mountain Biking legend Gary Fisher (r)
and I outside Senator Diane Feinstein's
office in the Hart Senate Bldg.

Meanwhile in San Francisco after Dan White had recently announced his resignation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. After reconsidering, he intended to lobby Mayor George Moscone to ask for his seat back. When the news reached the SF Bay Area of the deaths of almost 1,000 members of Jim Jone's church, nearly all from the Bay Area, the mayor delayed while the city mourned the tragic events. 

On November 27, Moscone had already decided to appoint someone else for the seat and it was on that day that Milk went to Moscone's office only to be confronted by an unknowing Feinstein as he was on his way out and en route to kill Harvey Milk. Later Feinstein would be appointed Mayor. 

Showing off a Congressional Record from the
111th Congress. Thanks Rep. Speier.

Later a grieving Moscone family would arrive on Maui during December of that year. I was also working room service at the Hotel and would deliver the gift baskets and food to the family at their cottage near the beach. Now it is easy to see why Senator Feinstein, having been directly affected with two major tragedies would respond to the Sandy Hook tragedy the way she has. 

Recently on visits to our nation's Capitol I would call upon Senator Feinstein and Congresswoman Speier sympathetic to how the tragedy had effected their own lives. It is somewhat strange how later on I would meet these two women whose lives had been effected with violence and tragedy.

Walking school buses as the new transportation trend

The following article was recently featured on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's website and was written by Craig Noble.

Studies show that fewer children are walking and biking to school, but there’s a new trend in transportation that could reverse that. It’s called the walking school bus, although it has no wheels. Instead, it’s simply a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. The walking school bus is a safe, fun and convenient way to get to class. It also reduces air pollution from extra driving.
Walking school bus programs were trail blazed by the national Safe Routes to School program, which according to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, promotes “sustained efforts by parents, schools, community leaders and local, state, and federal governments to improve the health and well-being of children by enabling and encouraging them to walk and bicycle to school.” The program also seeks to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change by shifting the mode of travel away from single family vehicle use.

Photos from a recent Walk to School Eventi
n the Willow Glen neighborhood of
San Jose

Now walking school buses are attracting attention across the Bay Area. In fact, The Daily Republic newspaper recently reported that Solano County has set a goal of starting a walking school bus at all 56 elementary schools in the county.
One of the Bay Area’s most established walking school bus programs is in Alameda County. The program is implemented in nearly every school district in the county, for a total of 96 schools in 2012. These include 75 elementary schools, 15 middle schools and six high schools. The program started with just two schools in Oakland in July 2007.

A complete list of participating county schools is available from the Alameda County Safe Routes to School Program. The county’s program is funded by a nearly $3 million grant from MTC plus a nearly $380,000 match from Measure B, Alameda County’s half cent transportation sales tax (administered by the Alameda County Transportation Commission). MTC has provided a total of $15 million to Bay Area counties for the Regional Safe Routes to School Program, and it will continue to fund the program at $5 million per year over the next four years.

“We are certainly one of the largest and most comprehensive Safe Routes to School programs in the country,” said Nora Cody, program director for the Safe Routes to School Alameda County Program. “We are very proud of our socioeconomic and geographic equity, serving urban and suburban schools, multiple languages and challenging demographics. We are seeing mode shift, and we are engaging thousands of families who are eager to embrace healthier ways to school.”

Megabus returning to the west coast?

Megabus coming to the Bay Area

My good friend Richard over at Cyclelicious informs me that he spotted a Megabus in San Jose this morning. He says that he spoke with the bus driver who stated that they are doing some test runs in the area. Megabus first launched its U.S. fleet in April of 2006 and currently serves 80 cities across North America.

When the system was running through San Jose I was very impressed. On one occasion I got a $3 ticket and the ride only took around 6 hours from Los Angeles' Union Station to San Jose's Diridon Station (see map). That works out to less than 1 penny per mile at about 60 mph pace!

Megabus used to run a San Francisco to Los Angeles Union Station route about four years ago. The bus used to make a stop right at Diridon Station. So before your groan and compare Megabus to Greyhound bus lets go over some major differences.

Try the new Megabus phone app.

• Megabus is a British based company that currently has bus stops in 37 states and the province of Ontario. 
• Buses are new and immaculate, most are double decker style with on board wi-fi, at seat plug-ins
• Unlike Greyhound they own no property but rely on cities allocating convenient bus stops in high traffic areas.
• Ticketing is all done online.
• The unique feature of Megabus is that the first ticket for a run is always $1 and goes up from there, making the bus line very affordable.
• Unfortunately Megabus does not carry bicycles on board or in the luggage compartment.

 Megabus is extremely popular amoung students in the heavily traveled Washington DC to New York to Boston corridor, competing with Amtrak's Acela train.

 Megabus also has a mobile phone app which you can find using the QR code located on the right. They have an app for both the iPhone IOS systems and the Android system.

I'll try to keep you posted on any details.

Thanks for the heads up, Richard!

Upcoming Cycling Events in the Bay Area - October 11, 2012

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Bike Party!
Halloween Ride!

San Jose Bike Party - October 19, 2012 8:00pm
The Halloween Ride

Route will be posted the day before the ride

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Bike Party is growing - In the Bay Area .....San Jose, East Bay, and San Francisco.

Also now in Washington DC , Baltimore, Philly Bike Party, Chico CA and Salinas, CA.

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Every Friday at San Jose City Hall....

Bike to Lunch Fridays at 11:55 am. Meet at Bamboo Garden on the South Side of City Hall to ride to a nearby restaurant. Just bring a bike, a lock, some lunch money....and follow the rules of the road. Host John Brazil, San Jose City Bicycle Coordinator.

 

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Just Ride: How to Have More Fun on your bike

Grant Petersen, founder and owner of Rivendell Bicycle Works, will tell you how he got caught up in a racer's lifestyle for more than 25 years, how it took the fun out of riding, how this can happen to anybody, and what he did about it. Come meet this passionate cyclist, who challenges conventional cycling dogma and offers a more satisfying and sustainable approach to riding in his new book, "Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike".

Three different venues in the Bay Area (for more details)

 

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San Francisco Bike Party
Hardly Strictly Bike Party
Friday, October 5, 2012
(More info) 

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Santa Cruz Open Streets
West Cliff Drive Santa Cruz
Sunday, October 7, 2012 9am-1pm
Free community event. Enjoy West Cliff Drive without automobile traffic. Bicyclists, joggers, strollers, skaters...come one, come all! Streets for people from Lighthouse Field to Natural Bridges State Park.
 More Info

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East Bay Bike Party

Friday, October 12, 2012
(More Info)

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Ride ESSJ - Second Sunday
Ride East Side San Jose
Sunday, October 14, 2012
(More info

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Sunday Streets Berkeley

Sunday, October 14, 2012Open Streets are coming to Berkeley.
Sunday Streets Berkeley will take place on Shattuck Ave for 17 blocks from Rose Street to Haste Street (see map below). It will be a celebration of local businesses and organizations. Storefronts will be unobstructed, and business owners will be encouraged to promote commerce and visibility by setting out seating on the street, hosting activities, and otherwise inviting interest and community.

(More info)

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DC Bike Party
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
(More info) 

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Peninsula Bike Party
Friday, October 19, 2012
(More info)

San Francisco Sunday Streets (Street Closure Event) - Excelsior

Sunday, October 21, 2012 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Mission Street, from Silver to Seneca; Seneca from Mission to San Jose (Tentative) More Info

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Dutch ThinkBike:October 22 & 23, 2012

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 strengthen bicycling in San Jose....

For more info....

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Reveal the Path: Inspiration on a Bicycle
October 26, 2012

Join REI and ROMP (Responsible Organized Mountain Pedalers) for a screen of "Reveal the Path", a unique adventure film that explores - from the seat of a bicycle- what it means to live an inspired life, however modest or extravagant. filmed across four continents and featuring Tour Divide rage legends, Matthew Lee and Kurt Refsnider. This immersive film will take you to meet the locals in Scotland's lush valleys, Europe's snow-capped mountains, Morocco's high desert, Nepal's rural countryside, and Alaska's rugged coastline. For more information

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Tour De Coop
October 27, 2012
Silicon Valley's first Tour De Coop in western Santa Clara County. The first annual Silicon Valley Tour de Coop,  a self-guided bicycle tour of chicken coops and gardens, announces its call for coops.
The tour is designed to educate visitors about keeping hens, inspire the bike rider and gardener in all of us, and build community. Open to adults and children, the tour will feature various hen houses and breeds.

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Purisima to Half Moon Bay & Back Annual ROMP Halloween Costume Mountain Bike Ride Saturday, October 27, 2012 9:45am Meet, 10:00am Start

This multi-level ride will include a gentle/beginner option, an intermediate ride, and (depending on interest) a harder ride.  Meet us at the Purisima Parking Lot on Skyline Blvd., just north of Kings Mtn Road.

The gentle group will do a short route from the parking lot.
Intermediate and harder groups will ride down to Half Moon Bay and back via Purisima OSP - http://www.openspace.org/preserves/pr_purisima.asp.

This ride is 20-25 miles with 2,300' of climbing, on dirt and approx. 30% paved roads closer to Half Moon Bay.  We ride to a preselected pumpkin patch for pumpkins & a short break before climbing back to the start.  Maps will be provided.
For more information
 

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San Francisco Bike Expo
San Francisco Cow Palace
November 10 & 11, 2012
Doors open at 10 am

The Cycle Showdown is Saturday only. The Bike Expo is 2 days.
- Your pass will be good for both days.
- Doors open at 7 AM for on site registration and move in and ends at 9:30 AM.
- Please come to the right door side of the main entrance to registration. See map HERE.
- Bikes can be left overnight but the SF Bike Expo is not responsible.

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Also note the Guadalupe River Trail will be closed for paving construction soon. The closed portion will extend north of 880 all the way to Gold Street in Alviso. check Twitter for more details.

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

Well I pay taxes and....

"I pay taxes and...."

At a public meeting last month a woman in the audience shouted out "Well I pay taxes, I pay taxes for the roads and bicyclists don't". Well here is a breakdown of roads and the agencies that maintain them, courtesy of the California Transportation Commision.

As you can see gasoline (excise) taxes which are collected at the pump only pay for a small amount of the roadways we drive on, about 17%. This is not counting for the fact that gasoline taxes do not cover the complete cost of maintaining our roadways.

Roadways in cities and counties are paid by property and sales taxes which are not dependent on automobile ownership or useage. Therefore cyclists, pedestrians, and transit users also pay for the roads they use.

http://www.catc.ca.gov/reports/2011Reports/2011_Needs_Assessment_updated.pdf
California Transportation System Needs Assesment.

http://www.sjcog.org/docs/pdf/media/shortfall,11-6-11.pdf


California’s 58 counties and 4,803 cities own and maintain 141,2354 miles of local streets and roads. This is an impressive 82 percent of the state’s total publicly maintained centerline miles (see Figure 2-6 below). About 146.4 billion vehicle miles are traveled on this street network annually. That’s approximately 45 percent of the total miles traveled every year in California.

Conservatively, this network is valued at $271 billion. Figure 2-6. Breakdown of Maintained Road Centerline Miles by Agency Table 2-2 shows the breakdown of lane-miles by functional classification, for local streets and roads and for unpaved roads. Arterials or collectors are categorized as major streets or roads, while residential streets and alleys are categorized as local streets and roads.

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.

Amtrak celebrates America's return to rail

Amtrak sets new ridership record while improving on-time performance

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, also known as Amtrak announced record ridership and revenue figures this morning for the fiscal year ending September 2012. With today's good news and the third division series baseball game starting this afternoon, the District of Columbia must be in a rare ebullient mood this morning. Amtrak ridership was at 31.2 million passengers for the year, the highest level ever since its 1971 start. The year end results also mark the ninth (out of the last ten) year a ridership record has been achieved.

L to R, Joe Boardman - President, Amtrak,
Janet Napolitano US Sec. of
Homeland Security,
Ray Lahood US Sec. of Transportation

"People are riding Amtrak trains in record numbers across the country because there is an undeniable demand to travel by rail," said President and CEO Joe Boardman.

During FY 2012, ridership on the Northeast Corridor is up 4.8 percent to a record 11.4 million. State-supported and other short distance routes is up 2.1 percent to a record 15.1 million and long-distance services is up 4.7 percent to their best showing in 19 years at 4.7 million. State-supported routes are mainly commuter or shorter routes such as California's Capitol Corridor or the Pacific Surfliner.

Also, FY 2012 produced other ridership achievements including new records for 25 of 44 Amtrak services, and 12 consecutive monthly records with July being the single best month in the history of Amtrak. Since FY 2000, Amtrak ridership is up 49 percent.

 

Year to year comparison on
long distance routes

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

Hedding Street Improvments and building fires

Hedding St. fire.

Although Hedding Street will be getting some new bike lanes latter this year fire struck an older warehouse just last week along Hedding at 10th St. where the railroad crosses the street. This is one of many fires I have notice over the years in San Jose. Whether historical houses or old warehouses, nothing is safe from a potentially deadly flame.

Looking east.
10th Street and Hedding at the Raiload
tracks