The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) hosted a community outreach open house event to promote the Valley Transportation Plan 2050 (VTP 2050) at the Roosevelt Community Center Wednesday evening.
VTA provides sustainable transportation options including bus, light rail and paratransit services throughout the greater Santa Clara Valley County, according to its website.
The VTP 2050 is the county-wide transportation plan and policy framework for developing future transportation projects, according to its website overview.
Adopted after VTP 2040, the plan identifies existing and future highways, local streets and roads, transit and bicycles, each with dedicated programs aiming to better and expand transportation for the community, according to the same source.
VTP 2040 is a part of VTA’s Bart Silicon Valley Phase II, the largest single public infrastructure project ever constructed in Santa Clara County, according to its Long-Range Transportation Plan for Santa Clara County.
Estimated to carry 55,000 passengers each weekday, the Phase II will include the construction of BART stations at 28th Street/Little Portugal Station, Downtown San José Station, Diridon Station and Santa Clara Station, according to the same site.
Set to be completed by 2040, students, faculty and staff would be able to take BART transit from Santa Clara Station into Downtown. There is also a projected connection to Berryessa/North San José Station.
The VTA open house featured several tables each decorated with information posters about specific programs under VTP 2050. Attendees at the event were encouraged to participate in providing feedback by talking to VTA staff and participating in active surveys.
Senior Transportation Planner John Sighamony spoke at the event supported by a presentation about the plan.
VTP 2050, proposed in Nov. of last year, started with public input to determine county goals for the next 25 years, Sighamony said.
He also said the plan is currently in the development phase until Feb. of next year and is set to be fully adopted by summer.
“We’ll then develop the document beginning in the spring,” Sighamony said. “That takes into account whole strategies, projects and what we need to be doing to make those projects happen.”
Sighamony said the open house is a great opportunity to gather input from community members whose voices are not generally heard.
Data Scientist Mirae Lee said she takes public transportation bi-weekly for recreational purposes.
She said she was curious to know what long term plans of VTP 2050 were and stopped to chat with VTA staff.
“I take the bus to get to events, grocery stores . . . really just to get around the city,” Lee said.
She said her household is in the process of becoming less dependent on driving as a means of transportation and referred to walking or biking as good alternatives.
“In general, I just wanted to learn more about what plans there were to decrease commute times,” Lee said.
Sighamony said the VTA Visionary Network plan aims to reduce wait times when using light rail or bus and increase ridership.
“A lot of our major routes are 15 minutes,” he said. “If we get it down to 10 minutes, people will be more like, ‘Okay I can wait ten minutes and the bus will be there.’ ”
Sighamony said in addition to the shorter wait time, bus station restoration and transit speed will be monitored. VTA would have to work with the city to adjust transit and bus signal priority.
“It’s like the biggest bang for your buck, you know, and some of these projects are important projects, but some of them are very expensive,” he said. “This is something that our riders could use.”
Associate Principal Woody Hanson works for SITELAB urban studio, an urban design firm working with VTA to produce a community rich environment surrounding 28th Street/Little Portugal Station.
He said the upcoming BART stations will implement transit-oriented development, an active and dense development plan set to surround the stations.
“The goal is to bring people to the station, and when they arrive at the station, they know exactly where they are,” Hanson said.
Hanson said it’s important for 28th Street/Little Portugal Station to represent its neighborhood because it’s not a downtown station.
Hanson greeted attendees and gave them colored stickers to place on different panels representing what they want to see built in their community.
“It’s a transit oriented development that’s rooted in the character of the neighborhood, so community engagement is really important,” he said. “With this neighborhood, we need to better understand what it needs, what stories it’s telling and how we can imbed that in future development.”
